Floods in Provence‑Alpes‑Côte d’Azur and lessons for French food risk governance

This study uses multiple sources (insurance datasets, scientific articles, satellite data, and grey literature) to analyze modern flood disasters in the Provence‑Alpes‑Côte d’Azur Region; discuss the efficiency of French public policy instruments; perform a SWOT analysis of French flood risk governance (FRG); and suggest improvements to the FRG framework. Despite persistent government efforts, the impacts of flood events in the region have not lessened over time. Identical losses in the same locations are observed after repeated catastrophic events. 

The study finds that the French FRG could benefit from several improvements. These include: (1) regular updates of risk prevention plans and tools; (2) the adoption of a Build Back Better (BBB) logic rather than repairing damage in the same locations; (3) taking undeclared damages into account in flood risk models (not just those declared to flood insurance); (4) increased communication between actors at all the different steps in each cycle (preparation, control, organization, etc.); (5) increased communication between the three main phases of the cycle (risk prevention, emergency management, disaster recovery); (6) an approach that extends the risk analysis outside the borders of the drainage basin 1976 Natural Hazards (2021) 109:1959–1980 1 3 (to be used in combination with current basin risk models); and (7) increased participation in FRG by the local population.