Analysis and comparison of the impact of floods and compound flood events on the Spanish Peninsular Mediterranean coast

The Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula covers a total of 1,609 km of coastline between the Spanish-French border and Gibraltar and is an area with increasing impacts related with extreme meteorological phenomena, but also linked to the socio-economic characteristics of the areas affected. It is an area with a high concentration of economic activities, especially tourism. On the other hand, this zone contains areas of high ecosystem value. All this means that natural hazards can cause more serious damage, both socio-economic and environmental. Understanding the compounding threats of floods, sea storms and other hydro-meteorological events in the Mediterranean is crucial in the context of climate change and has serious implications for coastal resilience.

This study examines the socio-economic impacts of compound events of floods, wind and sea storms on coastal communities. First, this communication presents the process of identifying these events carried out in the framework of C3Riskmed project, including the role of new sources of information such as citizen science, social networks or historical landmarks. The economic impact of these events has been analysed using the Insurance Compensation Consortium (CCS). The analysis of remarkability, which was assessed using a remarkability criterion that integrates physical and socio-economic variables, is also presented. To finish, an analysis of the similarities and differences in the impact of these different events (in terms of economic impact, fatalities or damage to selected natural areas) will be included.

This research has been done in the framework of the C3Riskmed project, Grant PID2020-113638RB-C22 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.