An attempt to quantify the health impacts of flooding in the UK using an urban case study

Summary 

Objectives

To quantify, so far as possible, the health effects of flooding in the UK to allow comparison between different flooding events.

Methods

The health effects resulting from flooding events were determined through an extensive literature search, where information existed to enable the quantification of these effects. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were used to enable the comparison between different health impacts and different flood events and populations, using two sites subject to pluvial flooding in the Bradford area, UK.

Results

Relatively few properties (and hence people) were affected by flooding in the case study areas and there were no predicted deaths or serious injuries; these results were supported by anecdotal knowledge of the events. Mental health problems, characterized as psychological distress, were estimated for adults; these were found to dominate the calculated health impacts, being considerably greater than the combined physical symptoms in the case study examples.

Conclusions

While it was not possible to quantify every flood-related health impact, this method does allow comparisons to be made between different flood events and mitigation strategies.

Keywords: Disability-adjusted life years, Death, Flooding, Injury, Infection, Mental health