Risk Mapping of Coastal Flooding Areas. Case Studies: Scilla and Monasterace (Italy)

Coastal flooding is a danger to people who live near coasts. It is therefore necessary to increase knowledge of the causes of coastal flooding through scientific research. Furthermore, the correct assessment of flooding areas is very important for the management of coastal areas. Given this, the current European legislation (Directive 2007/60/EC) requires flood areas to be mapped, but to date in Italy each region is still adopting different procedures to map their flood areas. This paper, through two case studies, analyzes the hazard, damage and risk mapping of coastal flooding areas. The cases are related to two Calabrian towns, located along the Ionian coast (Monasterace), and the Tyrrhenian coast (Scilla), with both particularly prone to coastal flooding. In particular, with regards to the hazard mapping, the effects of sea storms and climate changes were taken into account. The damage assessment followed an “ex ante” approach, based on the employment of land use maps, in accordance with current Italian legislation. Furthermore, risk maps were added, and obtained by combining both damage and hazard maps. Finally, a comparison with previous events allowed us to verify the validity of the proposed methodology