Spatial and temporal distribution is the central topic of this scientific publication.

Abstract

Floods as hydrological emergencies, every day increasingly threaten the safety of people and their property. As such, they intensely attract the attention of researchers in the field of geospatial, technical, natural, information and other sciences, but also experts in the field of emergency who want to better understand it. Bearing in mind that this is a mass phenomenon, which consists of multiple units, most preferred method of scientific research and drawing conclusions about the phenomenology of flood is a statistical method. Guided by this fact, the subject of this paper is a descriptive statistical analysis of geospatial and temporal distribution of flood in period from 1900 until 2013 at the global level. Thereby, a statistical study was conducted in such a way that in the first step, it was taken raw (unprocessed) data in the format of “An Excel” file from the international database on disasters (CRED) in Brussels, which was then analyzed in the statistical SPSS data processing. The temporal analysis it is examines the distribution of the total number and impacts of floods on an annual, monthly and daily basis, with a special focus on the top 5 countries by the number of different effects (killed, injured, affected, homeless). On the same principle, within the geospatial distribution it is analyzed the total number and consequences of floods by continents and countries, with special emphasis on the top five states in terms of total number and variety of consequences. Therefore, for more effective and efficient protection and emergency response caused by the deleterious effect of flooding, it is needed to comprehensively explore specified natural phenomena, so that the subject of the paper will be form, consequences, temporal and geospatial distribution of manifestation of flooding. In addition, it is important to mention that geospatial and temporal analysis of floods gives meaning, content and value to a comprehensive effort to understand natural hazards and their effects better, to protect people from them timely, and in this case, adjust to the flood risk.

Conclusions

After the analysis of natural disasters, the following conclusions were made: In the period from 1900 to 2013, there were 25,552 natural disasters. During these disasters, 65,009,766 people were killed, 15,221,227 were injured, 13,566,647,548 were affected, and 337,112,287 were left homeless. The total damage amounted to 5,066,645,713 US dollars. During the reporting period, floods were the most frequent, while landslides and rockfalls were the rarest. The largest number of people was killed due to droughts, injured by extreme temperatures, and affected by floods. The largest number of people was left homeless due to floods. The highest total damage was caused by storms. The smallest number of people was killed as a result of insect infestations, injured due to forest fires, and affected by landslides and rockfalls. The fewest people lost their homes due to epidemics, insect infestations, and landslides and rockfalls. Material damage was also least caused by epidemics, insect infestations, and landslides and rockfalls. The largest number of natural disasters occurred in Asia, and the smallest in Oceania. Accordingly, the distribution of consequences by continents is similar. Looking at the time continuum, the largest number of natural disasters occurred from 2000 to 2013, and the smallest number from 1910 to 1920. Of these, the largest number of fatalities was from 1900 to 1910, and the smallest from 1990 to 2000. The largest number of injuries occurred from 2000 to 2013, and the smallest from 1900 to 1910. The largest number of people affected by natural disasters was from 2000 to 2013, and the smallest from 1900 to 1910. In the period from 2000 to 2013, the largest number of people was left homeless, while this number was smallest from 1940 to 1950. Statistical results clearly indicate the severity of the increase in the number and effects of natural disasters. These results can be used as a serious argument to stimulate the capacities of countries to deal with natural disasters.

How to cite

Reference – Cvetković, V. (2014). Spatial and temporal distribution of floods like natural emergency situations. International scientific conference “Archibald Reiss days” Thematic conference proceedings of international significance (3-4 March 2014), Belgrade, The Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies, 371-389.