Author(s): Paloma Batanero, Eduardo Martinez and Ignacio Martinez González
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Flooding; Urban areas; Risk management; Early warning; Monitoring
Abstract:
The city of Bilbao is located in a high risk flooding area, at the end of a very fast and steep catchment (Nervion-Ibaizabal River), under the direct influence of the Cantabrian Sea tidal levels.
Over the last 50 years there have been several flood events, the most serious occurred in 1983, which resulted in great economic and personal losses for the city. Since then, Bilbao has been searching for an effective tool to prevent and be aware in advance of this kind of incidents.
In recent years, technology has reached a development point where it is possible to effectively monitor and simulate the hydraulic condition of Bilbao.
This paper presents the new Flood Early-Warning and Monitoring System that has been developed under the lead of Bilbao City Council. It will serve as a powerful Decision Support System and enable a better flood risk management for the City Crisis Committee.
This project has been a 3-year process which involved many parties within public and private sectors, being a great example of mutual collaboration and team.
Year: 2019