Flash Flood Risk Management – A Training of Trainers ... - ReliefWeb

Day 3
RM 10.2: Various strategies for flash flood risk acceptance
Acceptable risk, as defined in the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, is the level of
loss that a society or community considers acceptable within the given existing social, economic, political,
cultural, technical, and environmental conditions (UNISDR 2009). There are three main types of risk
acceptance strategies: toleration, emergency response systems, and insurance.
Toleration
Toleration of risk implies that a competent authority (local, regional, or national) accepts that flash floods can
occur. In this case, it is very likely that the competent authority will accept the results of the risk assessment and
not promote any activities to reduce the risk.
Emergency response systems
All emergency plans (regional, district, local) should be based on a national emergency plan so that
emergency operations within a particular country will be carried out according to the same doctrine of civil
protection and in a concerted manner. In general, the various public authorities implicated in the emergency
plan will play roles related to their day-to-day responsibilities. They must prepare themselves according to the
mission statement established in the emergency plan. To this end, each competent authority (regional, district,
local) should have its own emergency plan, accompanied by an operations manual.
Insurance
Insurance against flash flood damage should be an integral part of risk acceptance. However, many countries
in the HKH region still do not have this practice because of the high costs involved. Insurance companies
have various policies that cover risk. Insurance policies that apply only at the local level are far too expensive
both for the insurance companies and for the private and public subscribers.
RM 10.3: Various strategies for flash flood risk reduction
Risk reduction is one of the main goals in flash flood management. It can be dealt with in two ways: through
prevention strategies and through mitigation strategies.
Prevention strategies
Watershed management. (See also Session 12.) Watershed management has both structural and nonstructural
components. Watershed management is cross-cutting and closely related both to the socio-economic
status of the community and its development. Watershed management takes into consideration a number
of basic principles related to runoff and erosion including soil, topography, land cover and use, farming
practices, and floodplain zoning. This topic is covered in more detail later in the section on watershed
management and the integrated flash flood management approach.
session 10
Financial measures. Financial support can be provided after a flash flood occurs in order to aid communities
in dealing with the aftermath of the disaster. Usually this aid is administered through national or regional
agencies. Financial measures can be
• an economic contribution or the waiver of a financial burden such as: taxes, loan interest, or the
liquidation of a loan;
• financial support to individuals and local communities for planning, constructing, and maintaining structural
interventions that can be shared among national, provincial, and local administrative levels, with the total
amount divided among them (the share of the burden generally increasing progressively from local to
provincial to national level);
• support to maintain and regulate hydraulic works of public interest (where the support is given to those
who maintain it);
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