Flooding doesn't stop at borders

Vast amounts of damage to property and large numbers of people affected. The outcome of the floods that have occurred in many regions of Europe over the past few years is truly alarming. And the forecasts are working on the assumption that events of this type will become more frequent in future.

This makes it all the more important to have measures in place that will provide protection for both the population and the infrastructure in the event of flooding. Reliable hazard maps, by way of a planning tool, and efficient forecast and warning systems provide a key contribution to reducing the extent of the damage.

One factor of central importance for the project - and an absolutely vital aspect - is cross-border cooperation. This is because flooding does not, after all, respect national boundaries. The region where the three countries of Luxembourg, France and Germany all meet is regularly affected by flooding. The areas along the Mosel, Saar and Sûre rivers experienced flooding on three occasions between 1993 and 1995 and then, in 1997, the river Oder developed into a torrential current, causing embankments to collapse. In August and September 2002, flooding in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and France caused damage running into billions, and thousands of people had to be evacuated. The death toll was more than a hundred.

The ten most expensive flooding catastrophes for the insurance industry in Europe since 1990 (original values, not corrected to allow for inflation, data: Münchner Rück 2005, enlarge picture).

Flooding is something that cannot be avoided. But we can make preparations to deal with it. And this is something that the competent authorities are fully aware of - and what prompted the launch of the TIMIS flood project. As an internet-based flood information system, TIMIS flood will provide the necessary basis for planning from 2008 onwards, together with reliable forecasts and warnings for both the authorities and the population at large.