| The occurrence of calamitous meteoric events represents a current problem of
the Salento peninsula (Southern Italy). In fact, flash floods, generated by
very intense rainfall, occur not only in autumn and winter, but at the end
of summer as well. These calamities are amplified by peculiar geological and
geomorphological characteristics of Salento and by the pollution of
sinkholes. Floodings affect often large areas, especially in the impermeable
lowering zones. These events cause warnings and emergency states, involving
people as well as socio-economic goods.
A methodical investigation based on the historic flood records and an
analysis of the geoenvironmental factors have been performed, using a
Geographic Information System (GIS) methodology for database processing in
order to identify the distribution of areas with different risk degrees. The
data, referring to events that occurred from 1968 to 2004, have been
collected in a database, the so-called IPHAS (Salento Alluvial PHenomena
Inventory), extracted in an easily consultable table. The final goal is the
development of a risk map where the areas that are affected by floodings are
included between small ridges, the so-called "Serre". More than 50% of
the Salento peninsula shows high or very high risk values. The numerous maps
that were utilized and generated represent an important basis in order to
quantify the flood risk, according to the model using historic records. |