Guidelines on Flash Flood Prevention and Mitigation

The NEDIES project is being conducted at Ispra by the Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC), formerly the Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety (ISIS), of the EC Directorate General Joint Research Centre (JRC). The objective of the project is to support the Commission Services of the European Communities, Member State Authorities and EU organisations in their efforts to prevent and prepare for natural disasters and accidents, and to manage their consequences. A main NEDIES activity is to produce "guidelines" on natural disasters and accidents. The Natural Risk Sector was asked by the Civil Protection and Environmental Accidents Unit of DG Environment to prepare these guidelines on flash flood prevention and mitigation, based mainly on three DG Environment-funded projects (Drau-Fersina, Geul and PREMO ’98). Furthermore, flash floods are also one of the priority areas within the DG Environment Major Project on Prevention of Natural and Technological Disasters. These guidelines are mainly envisaged for decisionmakers in the field of flash flood management, but can also be of interest to practitioners and the general public.