@article{ref1,
title="Flood fatalities in Africa: from diagnosis to mitigation",
journal="Geophysical research letters",
year="2010",
author="Di Baldassarre, Giuliano and Montanari, Alberto and Lins, Harry and Koutsoyiannis, Demetris and Brandimarte, Luigia and Blöschl, Günter",
volume="37",
number="22",
pages="-",
abstract="Flood-related fatalities in Africa, as well as associated economic losses, have increased dramatically over the past half-century. There is a growing global concern about the need to identify the causes for such increased flood damages. To this end, we analyze a large, consistent and reliable dataset of floods in Africa. Identification of causes is not easy given the diverse economic settings, demographic distribution and hydro-climatic conditions of the African continent. On the other hand, many African river basins have a relatively low level of human disturbance and, therefore, provide a unique opportunity to analyze climatic effects on floods. We find that intensive and unplanned human settlements in flood-prone areas appears to be playing a major role in increasing flood risk. Timely and economically sustainable actions, such as the discouragement of human settlements in flood-prone areas and the introduction of early warning systems are, therefore, urgently needed.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0094-8276",
doi="10.1029/2010GL045467",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010GL045467"
}