Flood risk assessment in the most endangered watersheds in Slovak Republic

Abstract

In recent years, the growth of population and diffusion of settlements over flood vulnerable areas have increased the impact of the floods worldwide. Natural disasters such as floods have constituted a major problem in many countries. Floods have caused immense economic and social losses, mainly as a result of unplanned urbanization, uncontrolled population density and not strictly inspected construction by authorities. Floods can anywhere and anytime have disastrous consequences, so it is desperately important to place emphasis on early warning and adequate protection against flooding. Flood damages that arose on watercourses and hydraulic structures on the territory of the Slovak Republic have been huge. The most affected is eastern Slovakia, where the most complex situation has been in Bodrog and Hornad river basins in the recent years, mainly in 2010. The paper presents flood risk assessment and management in these territories in context within Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the assessment and management of flood risks. During the last decades extreme meteorological and hydrological phenomena became more frequent and more destructive. The return period for extreme hydrological phenomena, such as floods, is a common criterion employed in the design of hydraulic structures.