Abstract
Floods on large rivers and torrential floods are the most common natural disasters in the Republic of Serbia. Floods on rivers are natural phenomena that go far beyond the framework of water management and hydro-technical measures. Given the distribution of hilly and mountainous areas in the Republic of Serbia and the developed hydrographic network, torrential floods occur very often, almost every year. Torrential floods and soil erosion are inseparable natural phenomena that shaped the relief long before the appearance of living beings on Earth. Erosion processes are difficult to notice and slow and are most often noticed only when large areas are exposed, and then the problem of erosion becomes a difficult-to-solve or unsolvable problem. For the classification of erosion processes in the Republic of Serbia, the EPM method (erosion potential method) is used, which classifies erosion into five categories that have their own quantitative characteristics.
TopIntroduction
The floods that occur, due to their unpredictability and speed of happening, as well as due to the great lack of time for the organized reaction of people, cause great damage, not only material but also those irreparable, expressed in lost human lives. Defense plans with exact data, computer models of potential events, and experiences from the past must be elaborated in detail and based on real requirements, but also on real possibilities, in order to be applicable in a given situation. In order to reduce the risk of loss of human lives and the occurrence of flood damage, the term must be precisely defined, and the question of what a flood is must be answered. The professional definition is as follows: A flood is a temporary water coverage of land that is not usually covered with water. These include floods caused by rivers, mountain streams, torrent watercourses, as well as floods caused by the sea in coastal areas. The previous definition is given in the EU Floods Directive - directive on assessment and management of flood risks (hereinafter: DAR), and it is noticeable that floods caused by water spills from sewage systems, whether atmospheric, sanitary or industrial sewage systems, are not treated as floods. As the definition of flood given in the DAR roughly states, floods can be divided according to their origin into floods caused by:
There are many causes of floods in river valleys, and they can generally be divided into three basic groups:
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those that are a consequence of natural phenomena,
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those caused by anthropogenic influence and
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those that are the result of a combination of natural and anthropogenic influences.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Recovery: The taking of appropriate measures to recover from an event, including the action taken to support disaster-affected communities in the reconstruction of infrastructure, the restoration of emotional, social, economic, and physical wellbeing, and the restoration of the environment.
Capacity: The combination of all the strengths, attributes, and resources available within an organization, community or society to manage and reduce disaster risks and strengthen resilience. Capacity may include infrastructure, institutions, human knowledge and skills, and collective attributes such as social relationships, leadership, and management.
Resources: Any asset, physical, human, economic or environmental which can be used to assist in achieving the objectives of the plan (people, equipment, relief supplies, water, roads, warehouses, and money).
Disaster: An event, either man-made or natural, sudden, or progressive, the impact of which is such that the affected community must respond through exceptional measures.
Hazard Analysis: Part of the overall planning process which identifies and describes hazards and their effects on the community.
Contingency Plan: A plan developed to assist with managing a gap in capability to ensure services are maintained. This plan describes organized and coordinated courses of action with clearly identified institutional roles and resources, information processes and operational arrangements for specific actions at times of need. Contingency planning can be done as deliberate planning or immediate planning as it seeks to address gaps on an as needs basis.
Disaster Management: There could not be a single organization solely responsible for all aspects of disaster management. The management task is to bring together, in an integrated organizational structure, the resources of many organizations that can take appropriate action in times of disasters.
Disaster Risk Reduction: Disaster risk reduction is aimed at preventing new and reducing existing disaster risk and managing residual risk, all of which contribute to strengthening resilience and therefore to the achievement of sustainable development.