EXTEND (EXTreme EveNts Documentation) Documentation of physical and social consequences of extreme events

The frequency and the intensity of heavy precipitation events will likely increase in Europe affecting at the same time the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. This change in combination of socio-economic changes poses new challenges for the management of natural disasters to government, authorities, scientists and affected communities. Several institutions across Austria, such as the Austrian Service for Torrent and Avalanche Control or The Federal Geological Office, are responsible for damage assessments after extreme events. A systematic documentation of this information helps to cope with natural hazards respectively. The data gathered within these assessments includes mainly information on the natural process (intensity, extent, timeline) and some information on damages on buildings and infrastructure. However, although, recent scientific research shows that social aspects (e.g. gender, age, ethnicity) influence the impacts and consequences of natural hazards significantly they are often ignored by post event documentation. The proposed research is focusing on reviewing existing methods (document and literature review) in the Alpine region (Austria, Swiss, Germany, Italy), outline existing gaps in the documentation of events and propose a guideline for the improvement of event documentation in Austria which includes both physical and social aspects. This will eventually improve the quality and quantity of damage related data contributing to a better understanding of the interaction between natural processes and communities but also to improved preparedness towards natural hazards.