A comparative analysis of the loss of life during two recent floods in France: the sea surge caused by the storm Xynthia and the flash flood in Var

This paper aims to analyse and compare the loss of life that occurred during two recent floods in France. The first flood was due to a sea surge triggered by the storm called Xynthia that hit the Atlantic coast on 28 February 2010 (41 flood-related deaths). The second was a flash flood that struck the Var Department in the French Mediterranean region on 15 June 2010 (26 fatalities). After detailing the assumptions and expected outcomes of the study of disaster-related fatalities, the paper focuses on the characteristics of the victims and the circumstances of their deaths. In the first case, 71% of the victims were people aged over 60 (mainly women) who were surprised while they were sleeping and who died in or near their homes. In the case of the flash flood, the profiles of the victims were diverse as the flooding occurred in the afternoon and many people were trapped in open. The paper also highlights the factors that explain mortality. Physical factors such as water depth were determined. The relationship between the water depth and the age of victims was found to be relevant. In the case of the storm surge Xynthia, the correlation between age and water depth is positive. For the flash flood, the correlation between age and water depth was negative as male adults died in open. In the first case, the vulnerability of people was closely linked to human features such as type of housing and age that people are not directly responsible for. During flash floods, dangerous behaviour by people highlighted the role of risk-taking in loss of life. We also examined the particular case of the deaths of the children. The paper concludes by discussing the factors of vulnerability on frail population such as elderly people or marginalized. The lack of risk awareness and crisis preparedness were clearly a major factor of vulnerability.