definition

Evacuation routes and infrastructure in cities that are prone to flooding need to be flood proofed. Available options to reduce the negative impacts of flooding are maintenance and condition of infrastructure, use of appropriate design and materials, creation of floating roads and creation of elevated roads for evacuation routes.

Co-benefits and impacts

The benefits of flood (or in general climate) proofing and therefore flood proofing are avoided damages to property (e.g. destruction of buildings), forgone economic activity as a result of damages (e.g. electrical outages, failed bridges), effects on health and human life, and impacts on environmental services (e.g. erosion, loss of natural capacity to protect from future climate change). Typically, these benefits are not straightforward to monetize because they are not observable through market transactions and do not have prices. Quantification of them, therefore, usually requires some form of nonmarket valuation (Kotchen M., 2013, p. 109).

conditions

The flood (or in general climate) proofing of infrastructure can be conceptualized from an economics standpoint as insurance against the adverse impacts of climate change. Determining the right amount of climate proofing requires consideration of both the costs and benefits.(Kotchen M., 2013, p. 108).

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Last modified: Sept. 16, 2016, 5:48 a.m.