Journal of Natural Disaster Science

Flood Disasters and Preventative Measures in Turkey

Ibrahim GURER
Gazi University, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Civil Engineering

(Received 18 August, 1997 and in revised form 17 August, 1998)

Abstract

Due to geographical location, geology, and topography, Turkey undergoes three main types of natural disasters related to gravity flows; floods, landslides, and snow avalanches. Flooding is the second important natural hazard after earthquakes, with 18 floods and 23 deaths per year on the average. A flood inventory of 776 cases was prepared using a simple computer PC program based on Dbase III Plus for easy access to 68 different parameters encompassing the geographical, topographical, hydrological, meteorological, and synoptic characteristics of each flood. By categorization of the available data, spatial and time distributions of past flood events were determined.

A flood disaster in Izmir, which caused 57 deaths and damaged more than 1000 houses, is presented, Unauthorized settlements on the flood planes of rivers and deforestation were to blame. A disastrous debris flow which killed 74 people in 1996 at Senirkent Isparta, and three recent floods at Sutculer Town of Isparta City; the Kaynasli locale of Bolu, Duzce; and on the Aksu plain of Antalya City on the Mediterranean seacoast also are presented.

Key words

flood disasters, flood protection, Turkey