ABSTRACT
Human activity is having a large, detrimental effect on the environment, increasing climate change and thereby increasing the likelihood of severe Ÿooding (IPCC, 2001). Furthermore, as climate change becomes an evermore serious threat, then Ÿooding in the built environment will become evermore frequent and severe (McCarthy, 2007). Climate change is altering weather patterns all across the globe and creating changes that our global ecosystem is now struggling to cope with (Pitt, 2008). Our built environments have become increasingly merged with the natural environment, making both more susceptible to Ÿooding. The aging physical infrastructure, rapid economic development, and growing populations all add to the vulnerability of our built environments to severe Ÿoods (Stewart and Bostrom, 2002).
