National Severe Storms Laboratory Seminar Series presents...
Spatio-temporal approach for understanding social adaptation during flash floods
Celine Lutoff
Université Joseph Fourier
Institut de Géographie Alpine, Grenoble, France
30 March 2009, 3:30 PM
National Weather Center, Room 1313
120 David L. Boren Blvd.
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK
Directions to the NWC (.pdf, 60 kb)
Flash Floods are characterized by their violence and their rapidity. Beyond the interest in a hydro-meteorological point of view, flash floods are also relevant case studies for social approaches. They enable the observation of individual or collective management of crisis, and provide a better understanding of how people move from daily activities to crisis actions (information, warning, collective organization, protection). In small watersheds (less than 100 km²), flooding occur quickly and let very short time for organizing these activities. In the Mediterranean areas, the density of population and activities can be very high in these small basins. The aim of this presentation is to show how the spatio-temporal approach, based on both post event investigations and on direct observations led on North Mediterranean sites, enables a better understanding of social adaptation.