Responding to Flood Disasters: Learning from previous relief and recovery operations

This paper presents lessons learned from previous flood responses in developing countries, based on a structured review of the literature. It is intended for people working in relief and recovery operations who have to decide if, when and how to intervene after a flood.

The Oxford Dictionary of English defines a flood as 'an overflow of a large amount of water beyond its normal limits, especially over what is normally dry land'. The number of flood disasters is growing (Parker et al., 2007: 3), driven by:
• changes to catchments (such as deforestation or urbanisation) that lead to increased run-off
• population growth in areas at risk of flooding 
• climate change, which increases the variability and severity of weather, such as record-breaking rainfall and possibly more severe tropical cyclones.

All of these factors mean that the number of flood disasters is likely to continue to increase.