Assesment of flood awareness and early warning systems: the case of Beşikdüzü, Trabzon

The rapid increase in the diversity and intensity of human activity in various parts of the river basins in the Eastern Black Sea Region disrupts the hydrological balance in the whole basin; increases the number of floods that occur frequently in the region and causes greater flooding damages. In this study, the flood, occurred in Beşikdüzü district of Trabzon on 21 September 2016 and resulted in the large amount of life loss and property, was investigated in terms of hydrological and social aspects. For this purpose, firstly, various flood discharges for different return periods were calculated by regional flood frequency analysis in order to determine the flood quantile of the Beşikdüzü flood. The calculated flood discharges were compared with the flood flow rate at the time of the disaster, and the vulnerability risk of the district from the floods was examined for different flood discharge. Secondly; for determining flood risk awareness and deficiencies in the early warning system, a survey was conducted with the people living in the region. Within the scope of general awareness; the people's knowledge of the measures, strategies and policies implemented before, during or after the flood was investigated. Within the scope of early warning awareness, the expectations of the public from early warning systems and their awareness on this issue were examined. The tendency to take action upon receiving early warnings or not is evaluated on an event tree, and the factors depending on taking action are examined.