Collection, Standardization and Attribution of Robust Disaster Event Information — A Demonstrator of a National Event-Based Loss and Damage Database in Austria

Loss and damage databases are essential tools for disaster risk management in order to make informed decisions. However, even in data-rich countries such as Austria, there has been no consistent and curated multi-hazard database to date. Based on the demands of the United Nations, the European Union and national requirements for monitoring and managing the effects of disasters, the CESARE project (funded by KIRAS/FFG; project end 02/2022) designed and developed a demonstrator for a consistent national event-based damage database. This demonstrator enables event identification, loss and damage monitoring and assessment according to international standards and offers the possibility of disaster forensics. The CESARE system is based on existing data collected by administrations as well as federal authorities which are consolidated according to a common data model. By this means, the primary data and the data collection procedures are not affected and a sustainable exchange of data is made possible. The demonstrator currently focuses on two Austrian federal states, three hazard types - floods, storms and mass movements - and the period between 2005 and 2018. By analysing over 140,000 individual event descriptions, we demonstrated that - despite some limitations in retrospective data harmonisation - the implementation of an event-based national damage database is feasible and offers considerable added value compared to the use of individual data records. The demonstrator will in future substantially support quantitative analysis in the context of the national risk assessment, national UNDRR-Sendai monitoring and disaster risk management at federal level by providing the best possible harmonised damage information, tailored indicators and statistics as well as maps on the impact of hazards at municipal level. The CESARE system is currently being rolled out operationally as well as extended to other hazard categories and the remaining provinces of Austria. With its final implementation, CESARE will provide the most complete event and damage database in Austria.