The worst floods in Europe and how to reduce the risk.
The actions aimed at combating these events can be focused on preventing them from occurring or reducing vulnerability. Likewise, "they can be nature-based, with the creation of flood parks or the opening of river arms to flood fields; or based on infrastructure: expanding the capacity of ravines or building a double dike to contain water in case of overflow, among others."
Miriam García García analyzes the recent episode of floods in Valencia and proposes strategies to mitigate their effects in the future. According to García, the main cause of this event was the outbreak of a DANA (Isolated Depression at High Levels) over the coastal mountains, which triggered torrential rains that led to flash floods in urban areas.
In his intervention in the news, García emphasizes the need to address these phenomena from a dual approach: on one hand, preventing them from occurring or minimizing their impact, and on the other, reducing the vulnerability of the exposed areas. To achieve this, he points out two main types of measures: Nature-based solutions, such as the creation of flood parks and the opening of river arms that allow for the controlled channeling of excess water, or with containment infrastructures, such as the widening of ravines and the construction of double dikes to reduce the risk of flooding.
García mentions examples of successful projects in Spain, such as the superblocks in Barcelona and the Luis Buñuel Water Park in Zaragoza, but laments the lack of similar solutions in coastal urban areas. In this context, he proposes replicating in Valencia the Room for the River model, developed in the Netherlands between 2007 and 2019, which aims to give rivers more space to flood in a controlled manner, reducing the risk for nearby urban areas.
Finally, García states that in areas where the risk of flooding is very high and impossible to completely mitigate, it will be essential to implement early warning systems and prepare the population to coexist with this risk, with timely evacuations and the reduction of exposure to human and material damage.