Analysis of flood compound events in the Spanish Peninsular Mediterranean coast
- 1Department of Applied Physics, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain (mllasat@meteo.ub.edu)
- 2Water Research Institute, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- 3Laboratori d’Enginyeria Marítima, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya·BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain
Understanding the compounding threats of floods and sea storms in the Mediterranean is crucial in the context of climate change. For this reason, a holistic analysis of their interaction and its implications for coastal resilience is needed. According to Zscheischler et al (2020), compound events are defined as the combination of multiple drivers and/or hazards that contribute to societal or environmental risk and that can be responsible for many of the most severe weather and climate related impacts. To manage these situations more effectively, it is essential to identify and prioritize elements that can be controlled, such as infrastructure planning and early warning systems, while also improving the resilience of those elements that cannot be controlled, such as natural ecosystems. Through the integration of scientific research, stakeholder collaboration, and management and policy interventions, coastal communities can enhance their capacity to mitigate risks and adapt to the impacts of compound hydrometeorological events.
In the framework of the C3Riskmed project, multidisciplinary research has been conducted to analyze compound events on the Spanish Peninsular Mediterranean coast. This communication introduces the compound events of floods, wind and sea storms recorded in the coastal municipalities covering a total 1,609 km of coastline between the Spanish-French border and Gibraltar. Their economic impact is analysed using Insurance Compensation Consortium (CCS) data and this is compared with the impact of non-compound events. A remarkability criterion, which integrates physical and socio-economic variables, and used to select the most important events, is introduced. Finally, a paradigmatic compound event such as the January 2020 storm "Gloria" is presented. Through detailed analysis of meteorological and impact data, key aspects of the dynamics and consequences of this compound event are shown. The lessons learned from Storm Gloria can be considered for the improvement of early warning systems, infrastructure planning, and community preparedness to mitigate the impacts of future extreme weather events.
This research has been done in the framework of the C3Riskmed project, Grant PID2020-113638RB-C22 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.
References:
Zscheischler, J. et al., 2020, A typology of compound weather and climate events. Nature Reviews.
How to cite: Llasat-Botija, M., Llasat, M. C., Marcos-Matamoros, R., Aguilera Vidal, M., Castán, S., and Jimenez, J. A.: Analysis of flood compound events in the Spanish Peninsular Mediterranean coast, EMS Annual Meeting 2024, Barcelona, Spain, 1–6 Sep 2024, EMS2024-790, https://doi.org/10.5194/ems2024-790, 2024.
