Published works

Globally floods cause widespread damage and loss of life and property. An analysis of global statistics conducted by Jonkman (2005) showed that floods (including coastal flooding) caused 175,000 fatalities and affected more than 2.2 billion people between 1975 and 2002. In Australia, floods cause more damage on an average annual basis than any other national disaster (HNFMSC, 2006). The fundamental causes of this severity of damage and the key factors contributing to flood risk, in general, are the vulnerable buildings constructed within floodplains and land-use planning. Recent events in Australia (2011, 2013 and 2015) highlighted the vulnerability of housing to flooding which originates from inappropriate development in floodplains. While there is a construction standard issued by the Australian Building Code Board (ABCB, 2012) for new construction in some types of flood-prone areas, a large proportion of the existing building stock has been built in flood-prone areas across Australia (HNFMSC, 2006). Flood losses from the recent events highlight the requirement of implementing effective and efficient mitigation measures to reduce losses in future.