XN Water Risk · Floods
Floods: the site's class and the expected damage
For every site we estimate how exposed it is to river and coastal floods and what that could cost each year. Where a country publishes more detailed official maps, the class takes them into account too.
The method
From water depth to damage in euros
The method follows that of WRI Aqueduct Floods: water depth by return period, defences, damage functions, expected annual loss.
- 1
Depth
Water depths from WRI Aqueduct Floods, cells of about 1 km, return periods from 2 to 1,000 years.
- 2
Defences
Protection standards from the FLOPROS database, which remove the most frequent events.
- 3
National maps
Where they exist, the class is the worse of Aqueduct and the official map: in Italy the ISPRA mosaic of the flood risk management plans, and Switzerland, Austria, England.
- 4
Damage
Depth through the JRC damage functions for commercial and industrial buildings, up to the expected annual loss.
Sources: Huizinga et al. 2017, Global flood depth-damage functions, JRC · Scussolini et al. 2016, FLOPROS, NHESS
On the platform
What we give, and its limits
Class and damage are an xNatura estimate, version 2026: every risk states whether its method is published or estimated.
What we give
- The river and coastal flood class of every site
- The expected annual loss and the loss per event, in euros, on the asset's value
- The ISPRA flood hazard map for sites in Italy
- The river network around the site
With their limits
- The Aqueduct maps describe the present climate: the class does not change between scenarios
- Floods from intense rainfall and from groundwater are not in the class
What it does not say
- Whether an area can be built on: the river basin plans and the authorities decide
- An alert: that is for civil protection services
- The damage to one specific building: it is an estimate on the declared asset value
FAQ
Questions on floods
Why is the class the same in every scenario?
Because the Aqueduct maps we use describe the present climate. A change by scenario needs Aqueduct's scenario maps, which we do not use today.
Do you use the official Italian maps?
Yes: for sites in Italy the class is the worse of Aqueduct and the ISPRA national flood hazard mosaic. The same holds for Switzerland, Austria and England with their own maps.
Where does the euro damage come from?
From water depth through the JRC depth-damage functions (Huizinga et al. 2017), with the FLOPROS defences, up to the expected annual loss. It is an estimate on the asset value you give us.
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