Exploring the circumstances surrounding flood fatalities in Australia—1900–2015 and the implications for policy and practice

Influence of road characteristics on flood fatalities in Australia

“…In Australia, Haynes et al (2017) found 49% of flood fatalities that occurred between 1960 and 2015 were vehicle related, a figure almost identical to an earlier study by Fitzgerald, Du, Jamal, Clark, and Hou (2010) who examined the period 1997-2008 and Peden, Franklin, Leggat & Aitken (2017) who examined between 2002 and 2012. Between 1960 and 2015, 64% of these 229 vehicle-related deaths were associated with sedans and 19% with four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles (Haynes et al, 2017). Since 2000, fatalities associated with 4WD vehicles have increased by five times the number experienced in the previous decade, with flood deaths equally distributed between 4WD vehicles and sedans (Haynes et al, 2017).…”

Full‐scale testing of stability curves for vehicles in flood waters

“…A recent analysis of global statistics of flood impacts by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (UNISDR, ) estimated that in the period from 1995 to 2005, 606,000 lives were lost and 4.1 billion people were injured, left homeless or in need of emergency assistance as a result of weather‐related disasters. Country‐specific between 25 and 68% of the total number of flood fatalities occurs in vehicles that become unstable in floodwaters (Diakakis & Deligiannakis, ; Haynes et al, ; Jonkman & Vrijling, ; Kellar & Schmidlin, ; Pereira, Diakakis, Deligiannakis, & Zezere, ; Špitalar et al, ; Vinet, Boissier, & Saint‐Martin, ). Analysis of flood rescue data shows that occupied vehicles that become unstable due to the force of floodwaters are vulnerable to being washed off roadways and bridges into even deeper, more dangerous flows (Gissing, Opper, & van Leeuwen, ).…”

“…This fundamental failure mode may be exacerbated due to uneven road surfaces, an inability to navigate submerged obstacles, and difficulties remaining on the road because the route is unidentifiable when submerged by floodwaters or reduced tyre friction on a wet road with sand gravel and debris. These mechanisms can lead to a complete loss of control over the vehicle resulting in the vehicle being swept downstream (Haynes et al, ).…”

Analysis of Flood Fatalities–Slovenian Illustration

“…Different angles of loss of life analysis contribute to the understanding of important factors, which influence the vulnerability and exposure of individuals and groups on a global level with cultural diversity. Furthermore, these different angles represent the variety of contextual emphasis in the areas of flood fatalities that have been studied.Existing analyses focus on a global scale [6][7][8], discuss fatalities in the context of health impacts [9], investigate circumstances of loss of life [10][11][12][13][14][15], study mortality in flash flood events in the US [16], and analyse vehicle flood fatalities [17].The complexity of the factors that contribute to loss of life probability implies a need for a different, interdisciplinary approach that is emphasised by Gruntfest and Handmer [18] and has been applied in studies [10,19]. Furthermore, Creutin et al [20] have pointed out the importance of collaboration between hydrologists and social scientists and have set the groundwork that is needed for solving complex problems and for effective decision-making.…”

“…Existing analyses focus on a global scale [6][7][8], discuss fatalities in the context of health impacts [9], investigate circumstances of loss of life [10][11][12][13][14][15], study mortality in flash flood events in the US [16], and analyse vehicle flood fatalities [17].…”