Flood and Landslide Risk Assessment for the Housing Sector in BiH

Flood and Landslide Risk Assessment for the Housing Sector in BiH

February 24, 2016

The European Union launched the EU Flood Recovery Programme for Bosnia and Herzegovina, worth 43.52 million EUR, in order to support recovery efforts after the floods of May 2014. The EU contribution was 42.24 million EUR, while UNDP participated with 1.28 million EUR.

The Programme aims at assisting people in the flood affected areas and communities in the 24 most affected municipalities to normalise their lives. Furthermore, the Programme recognizes the importance of investing in future risk informed decision making and it thus initiated the development of a Flood and Landslide Risk Assessment for the Housing Sector in BiH (Assessment). The Assessment focuses on the flood and landslide risk for the housing sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, prioritises locations based on risk ranking and makes recommendations for risk reduction.

The adopted and by relevant stakeholders validated methodologies enabled the objective identification and prioritization of housing areas at risk of flood and landslide across BiH that integrates assessment of the impact of climate change leading to increased levels of risk.

Some of the findings of the Assessment are:

  • The total surface of BiH exposed to very significant risk of flooding is 97,391 ha and the total surface of BiH exposed to very significant risk of landslides is 7,571 ha.
       
  • The total population living in the areas exposed to very significant risk of flooding is 283,777, while the total population living in areas at very significant risk of landslides is 260,731. The housing area at very significant risk of flooding totals 810.4 ha and the housing area at very significant risk of landslides totals 740.7 ha.
       
  • The total possible damage suffered by the housing sector in those areas at very significant risk of flooding is estimated at 3.5 billion BAM and the total possible damage suffered by the housing sector in the areas at a very significant risk of landslide is estimated at 4.3 million BAM.

The results of this Assessment are available through a web portal (www.eufloodsrecoveryhra.com) that serves as a platform to host all types of GIS data related to this Assessment.

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