ACHIEVEMENTS AND FUTURE NEEDS TOWARDS IMPROVED FLOOD PROTECTION IN THE ODER RIVER BASIN: RESULTS OF THE EU-EXPERT MEETING ON THE ODER FLOOD IN SUMMER '97

摘要

Floods are natural phenomena, which will continue to occur. The human impact on floods can be of considerable extent, both in positive and negative ways, but always will be limited. Scientists and water engineers have to contribute to providing answers to the questions related to floods. They have to get actively involved in the public discussion on this topic, in order to transfer their knowledge to the public in an appropriate form. As no absolute flood safety can be provided, societies have to live with floods rather than trying, in vain, to eliminate them. Flood protection should be recognized as a concern of the whole society and be of the same value as social or economic welfare. The core issue is to improve flood preparedness and to minimize flood losses. In particular, minimization of fatalities must be achieved, following the slogan: "Save lives rather than property". If the flood return period falls into the range of thousands of years, as was the case of the 1997 Oder flood, there is no way to avoid material losses. One thing is certain, however, the losses could have been significantly reduced. The ultimate cause of the flood, namely intense and long-lasting rainfall on saturated soils was a natural phenomenon beyond anyone's power, but an inadequate flood protection system, deficient organization and information dissemination have clearly contributed to the magnitude of the resulting losses.