ABSTRACT
Introduction to urban ood management Floods are part of nature. They may happen almost on any place on earth when there is too much water at one place and at one time. Although floods are associated with negative impacts they are not always bad, the nutrients that they bring to floodplains create some of the most fertile places on the planet. The seasonal floods replenish those nutrients and productivity. They have enabled the great civilisations of the past to arise out of such bounty. But trying to harness and shape such natural forces to serve our own ends human beings has done so with unintended consequences. Although most floods may be predicted, they can cause massive damage and destruction of property, as most urban communities are located near water sources such as coasts and rivers. Along with windstorms, floods are the most common and widespread of all natural disasters. About a third of all loss events and a third of economic losses are due to the effects of floods. In terms of the number of victims, floods have been responsible for more than half of the deaths caused by natural catastrophes in the past decades. Worryingly, flood events appear to be increasing in frequency and perhaps intensity world-wide.
