Estimating flood inundation and the consequent economic losses in the Koiliaris river basin in Crete, Greece

Local communities may experience flood events with devastating damages and economic losses. This work presents the application of an integrated method for flood loss estimation at the watershed level. The one-dimensional hydraulic model MIKE 11 was used to simulate the physical process of a flood event in a river channel and its floodplains. Flood parameters such as flood extent, floodplain water depth and flood duration were estimated. The parameter values obtained from the simulation were used for the estimation of flood loss. A grid-based mathematical model taking into account land use in the study area was used for this purpose. Such an econometric model is capable of determining flood-prone areas as well as estimating the economic losses associated with a flood event. This integrated methodology was applied to the Koiliaris River Basin in Crete, Greece.