Use of GIS to Estimate Socioeconomic
Losses Caused by Urban Floods: A Tool
for Improving Disaster Management
Gabriel Troyan Rodrigues and Edilberto Nunes de Moura
1 Introduction
Floods are the types of disasters that most occur in Brazil, with 58% of the total
registered events, and an estimated loss of 9 billion dollars, considering the period
between the years 1900 and 2015 (OFDA/CRED 2015). Despite this scenario, flood
loss assessments in Brazil are still carried out using information forms about the
disaster. This is a time-consuming and subjective method, which leads to inaccurate
assessments and results aimed at post-disaster actions instead of preventing and
mitigating the event.
The estimation of economic damage from flooding is gaining great importance as
flood risk management is becoming the dominant approach to flood control policies
on the European continent (Merz et al. 2010).
Studies by Dutta et al. (2006) on flood impacts in urban and rural environment in
the Ichinomiya River basin in Japan, used a model based on Geographic Information
System (GIS) to estimate economic losses before and after the implementation of a
flood control plan. And the results pointed to a reduction of up to 70% in damages,
due to the implementation of those control actions.
The mapping of areas susceptible to flooding is a resource that has been gaining
prominence in the reading and understanding of floods, which, if properly used, can
minimize the resulting impacts. Another important tool is flood alert systems, which
combine meteorological, hydrological and hydraulic models to anticipate knowledge
G. T. Rodrigues
Polytechnic School, Environmental Engineering Department, Pontifical Catholic University of
Parana, 1155 Imaculada Conceição St, Curitiba, Brazil
E. N. de Moura (B)
Science of Life School, Agronomy Engineering Department, Pontifical Catholic University of
Parana, 1155 Imaculada Conceição St, Curitiba, Brazil
e-mail: edilberto.moura@pucpr.br
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Integrating Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59975-1_43
643
Losses Caused by Urban Floods: A Tool
for Improving Disaster Management
Gabriel Troyan Rodrigues and Edilberto Nunes de Moura
1 Introduction
Floods are the types of disasters that most occur in Brazil, with 58% of the total
registered events, and an estimated loss of 9 billion dollars, considering the period
between the years 1900 and 2015 (OFDA/CRED 2015). Despite this scenario, flood
loss assessments in Brazil are still carried out using information forms about the
disaster. This is a time-consuming and subjective method, which leads to inaccurate
assessments and results aimed at post-disaster actions instead of preventing and
mitigating the event.
The estimation of economic damage from flooding is gaining great importance as
flood risk management is becoming the dominant approach to flood control policies
on the European continent (Merz et al. 2010).
Studies by Dutta et al. (2006) on flood impacts in urban and rural environment in
the Ichinomiya River basin in Japan, used a model based on Geographic Information
System (GIS) to estimate economic losses before and after the implementation of a
flood control plan. And the results pointed to a reduction of up to 70% in damages,
due to the implementation of those control actions.
The mapping of areas susceptible to flooding is a resource that has been gaining
prominence in the reading and understanding of floods, which, if properly used, can
minimize the resulting impacts. Another important tool is flood alert systems, which
combine meteorological, hydrological and hydraulic models to anticipate knowledge
G. T. Rodrigues
Polytechnic School, Environmental Engineering Department, Pontifical Catholic University of
Parana, 1155 Imaculada Conceição St, Curitiba, Brazil
E. N. de Moura (B)
Science of Life School, Agronomy Engineering Department, Pontifical Catholic University of
Parana, 1155 Imaculada Conceição St, Curitiba, Brazil
e-mail: edilberto.moura@pucpr.br
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Integrating Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59975-1_43
643