ABSTRACT
The flood hazard is the joint product of physical and human factors, and flooding is as much an economic problem as a hydrological one. In the case of rivers, the low-lying floodplain bordering the river is susceptible to inundation, but the floodplain exhibits natural site factors which in many instances have made it an attractive settlement site. The meteorological conditions leading to inland flooding involve intense precipitation, prolonged precipitation or snowmelt, either singly or acting in combination. The occurrence frequency of inland flooding is likely to be affected by changes in the frequency of heavy rainfall events. The storm surge of 1953 occurred when a depression developed near the Azores, deepened and moved east-north-easterly to northern Scotland and then changed direction and moved south-easterly towards Denmark. Work on the human responses to floods(known by some as behavioural flood studies) represents an integral part of evaluation studies of the flood hazard.
