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Assessment of flood-prone stripes within the Danube drainage area in the South-West Oltenia Development Region, Romania

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An Erratum to this article was published on 14 September 2013

Abstract

The present paper deals with the hydrometeorological phenomena that affected important sectors of the Danube, at European level, during the last 10 years and with the dedicated European policy, especially the flood management policy of many countries of Europe, focusing on society’s ability to co-exist with floods, rather than be protected from them. In this context, the exposed elements within the study area hold a poor coping capacity against extreme hydrometeorological events. The accentuated social and economic vulnerability enhances the overall flood risk. The observations were conducted on river sectors that are representative for south-western Romania, the case study areas being located within the piedmont (the Jirov stream—Gura Motrului settlement, on the Motru river) and plain (the Rast–Gighera sector, on the Danube river) areas. The aim of the survey was to decipher the hydrological mechanisms, the geomorphological response and the possibilities of prognosis and limitation of the flood risk phenomena. The study departs from the analysis of the natural background in GIS environment, followed by the determination of the hydrological parameters that influence the establishment of the flood-prone stripes (e.g., water levels corresponding to specific discharge values with different probability rates). The main objective consists in the identification of the flood-prone areas along two rivers (the Motru and the Danube) and their correlation with the recrudescence of extreme hydrological phenomena, taking into consideration the configuration of the floodplain as natural retention area and possible wetland.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their sincere sympathy for the families affected by the 2006 and 1999 flood events hoping that a better understanding of the circumstances that led to these outcomes will help improve warning and consciousness. We would like to kindly acknowledge the regional institutions that supplied important information from their statistical database (the “Romanian Water” National Administration, the Jiu Branch, as well as Dolj County and Mehedinţi County Inspectorates for Emergency Situations). The collaboration initiated between this institutions and the University of Craiova, Department of Geography, represented the starting point in the research of the dangerous natural phenomena in the Danube Floodplain. The research was supported by the National Council of Scientific Research in Higher Education, in the framework of the RFFI Grant No. 973/2008, by a grant of the Simion Mehedinţi Doctoral School (Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest), project co-financed through the Sectorial Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007–2013, POSDRU/6/1.5/S/24/7546 Contract, and by the Cross Border Cooperation Romania-Bulgaria Programme 2007–2013, in the framework of the project Romanian—Bulgarian Cross-Border Joint Natural and Technological Hazards Assessment in the Danube Floodplain. The Calafat-Vidin—Turnu Măgurele-Nikopole Sector (ROBUHAZ-DUN). We are also grateful to our reviewers for their helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geography Department, University of Craiova, A.I. Cuza Street, No.13, 200585, Craiova, Romania

    O. Ionuş, M. Licurici & S. Boengiu

  2. Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest, Bd. Nicolae Bălcescu, No.1, 010041, Bucharest, Romania

    M. Pătroescu

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  1. O. Ionuş
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  2. M. Licurici
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  4. S. Boengiu
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Correspondence to S. Boengiu.

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Ionuş, O., Licurici, M., Pătroescu, M. et al. Assessment of flood-prone stripes within the Danube drainage area in the South-West Oltenia Development Region, Romania. Nat Hazards 75 (Suppl 1), 69–88 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0720-0

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