Student research results - vulnerability to flooding by extreme precipitation in Enschede

One of our BSc students recently graduated on this topic with a Dutch thesis by among others conducting interviews with various stakeholders, including municipality Enschede, waterboard Vechtstromen, Safety Region Utrecht, social worker of the waterlogged area Pathmos, and housing coorporation. To guarantee their annonimity, these interviews are not publicly plublished. The results however did show some interesting points. The main point was to find out if social factors are also taken into account when determining flood vulnerability, and not just construction or physical environment factors. Unsurprisingly, there is still some development possible there, as most stakeholders are not yet too familiar with social factors. The English abstract is below. 

"Abstract

One of the effects of climate change is that extreme weather events are expected to happen more
frequently. These heavy rainfall events are a risk to safety since they can result in floods. In July 2024,
floods occurred in the Pathmos neighborhood due to heavy rainfall. The “Onderzoeksraad voor
Veiligheid,” a Dutch research institute, published a report about this flood. One of its conclusions
was that the influence of social and constructional factors on the vulnerability to floods caused by
heavy rainfall was largely ignored in the current climate policy. As a result, it is unclear what factors
should be considered while determining the vulnerability to floods caused by heavy rainfall.
Therefore, a methodology is developed to identify and analyze the social and constructional factors
that influence vulnerability.
This research shows that the location has the most impact on the vulnerability to these floods.
Besides the location, the average age and diameter of the sewage influence vulnerability
significantly, together with the built environment, height of the doorstep, presence of installations
on/below ground level, and people with special needs. Also, the quality of the buildings, the
presence of social networks, and the socioeconomic status matter.
This shows that besides the location, social and constructional factors also influence the
vulnerability to floods caused by heavy rainfall. These results can be used as an addition to the
current policy on climate adaptation. Together with the current policy, which is mostly driven by the
physical characteristics of the flood, more precise decisions can be made on where to add climateadaptive
measures. Therefore, this research can help identify the most vulnerable areas within
Enschede. "