2.1. Flood risk management
Since floods are the most common type of disaster that affects
communities around the world, flood risk management is a necessary measure to minimize their effect. This kind of management seeks to reduce the social, economic, and environmental
consequences of floods by means of a set of activities grouped into
three phases: pre-flood planning, emergency management and
post-flood recovery (Ahmad and Simonovic, 2006). In view of the
many variables involved, information about the current state of
rivers thus plays an important role in defining the current situation and supporting decision-making.