BDHI: a French national database on historical floods

Abstract

The paper describes the various features of the BDHI database (objects, functions, content). This document database provides document sheets on historical floods from various sources: technical reports from water authorities, scientific accounts (meteorology, hydrology, hydraulics...), post-disaster reports, newspapers or book extracts... It is complemented by fact sheets on flood events, which provide a summary text on significant past floods: location, date and duration, type of flood, extent, probability, adverse consequences A search engine is provided for information search based on time (specific date or period), on location (district, basin, city) or thematic topic (document type, flood type, flood magnitude, flood impact...). We conclude by some future challenges in relation to the next cycle of the Floods Directive (2016-2022), with the inventory of past floods which had significant adverse impacts. What are the flood events that need to be integrated (new ones later than 2011 and/or previous floods that had not yet been selected)? How can the process of historical data integration be extended at a local scale, with an adequate process of validation? How to promote the use of BDHI database in relation with the development of the culture of risk?