ADGEO Advances in Geosciences ADGEO Adv. Geosci. 1680-7359 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/adgeo-23-47-2010 High-impact floods and flash floods in Mediterranean countries: the FLASH preliminary database Llasat M. C. 1 Llasat-Botija M. 1 Prat M. A. 1 Porcú F. 2 Price C. 3 Mugnai A. 4 Lagouvardos K. 5 Kotroni V. 5 Katsanos D. 5 Michaelides S. 6 Yair Y. 7 Savvidou K. 6 Nicolaides K. 6 Department of Astronomy and Meteorology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Department of Atmospheric Physics, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy Department of Geophysics and Planetary Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council, Roma, Italy Institute of Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, Greece Meteorological Service, Nicosia, Cyprus Department of Life and Natural Sciences, The Open University of Israel, Ra'Anana, Israel 18 03 2010 23 47 55 Copyright: © 2010 M. C. Llasat et al. 2010 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://adgeo.copernicus.org/articles/23/47/2010/adgeo-23-47-2010.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://adgeo.copernicus.org/articles/23/47/2010/adgeo-23-47-2010.pdf

This paper contains a preliminary analysis of flood risk in Mediterranean countries, conducted within the framework of the FLASH European Project. All flood events recorded between 1990 and 2006 in the Mediterranean region have been included in the study. Results of previous international projects (STORM, SPHERE, AMPHORE, RINAMED and MEDEX), as well as information provided by FLASH Project partners and data included in scientific papers were the main source used in building this database. All the above information had been dispersed in various places, and an attempt was made here to create, for the first time, a verified and complete single database for the entire Mediterranean region. The work analyses the spatial and temporal distribution of flood events, as well as their social impact, with special attention to certain case studies that have been analysed in detail.

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