Spatial and temporal patterns of the impact of hydro-climatic hazards in the transboundary Prut River Valley (Romania – Republic of Moldova) for the last 150 years

The impact of natural hazards is one of the most important inputs for assessingthe risk specific to each hazard, as well as for determining multi-risks. The longer the period over which impact assessments can be conducted, the more qualitative the modeling and predictions of the impact of future events will be.

As a part of the transboundary research project “Exploring the paths to cope with hydro-climatic risks in transboundary rural areas along the Prut Valley. A multi-criteria analysis”, this study presents the impact of hydro-climatic hazards on a regional scale, as a database collected from scientific literature, historical maps, regional chronicles, but also from digital archives of newspapers that are now available online.  Thus, a database was created containing over 1500 records (between 1860 and 2010) on the impacts of floods, droughts, storms, blizzards, and hail across different social and economic sectors. Each entry represents an event and several associated characteristics, including date (start, end), location, affected sector, mitigating actions, a relative scale of impact magnitude, and data source.

The study area is located along the Prut River, which serves as the natural border between Romania and the Republic of Moldova. The rural spaces of this region possess distinct natural and socio-economic features that set them apart at the eastern border of the European Union, in the so-called „marginal livestock farming”: a farming-based economic profile, an aged population, a consistent rural exodus of young people, low transportation connectivity, high soil quality, and a propensity for soil erosion. The database was cartographically expressed by hazard type and period. For spatial extent, we used the administrative territorial boundaries from different periods in both countries

The complexity of the historical, political, and social evolution of the studied region (during the period between the two world wars, this territory was part of the Kingdom of Romania) resulted in varying levels of vulnerability, leading to different impacts from common hazards. Spatial clusters were identified for each hazard impact, and periods of severe social challenges, associated mainly with droughts, were identified, particularly in the first half of the 20^th century.