Tribute Trigger Buffer for Inundation Events

The impacts of climate change - including an increase in prolonged periods of heavy downpours, extreme precipitation rates and river overflows- are already affecting communities, economies, cultural heritage and public health across Europe. The recent socioeconomic and environmental impacts of extreme flooding in Ireland, the UK, and central Europe are testimony to the disastrous impacts that such future hazards are likely to pose. Managing inundation risk requires prevention measures in close cooperation with Civil protection Authorities. To that end, TRIBUTE aims to help Europe-wide national, regional and local CP authorities answer the following vital question in case offlooding: "Should I initiate an evacuation and how long do I have to evacuate safely?". The aswer to the above question is unique per selected area, as not all sites are equally prone to flooding. Having an evacuation plan in place before a flood occurs can help avoid confusion as well as prevent injuries and damages. One technique used for assessing the time that an evacuation should be recommended is the so-called "trigger buffer". An evacuation trigger buffer is a pre-established boundary that circumscribes an area in such a way that when floodwaters (incl. waters, sediment, contaminated waters and pollution) coming from any direction cross the buffer, an evacuation is recomended.

TRIBUTE software tool that will be delivered as a web service and as a mobile application, will be fed with current estimates of downpour hazards from satellites and information of the vulnerability and coping capacity for the threatened site. The service will have a pan-European coverage and will be tested extensively in the three pilot areas with different characteristics, including cross-border and multi-threat. TRIBUTE has rich training, dissemination and explotation activities to promote the concept to stakeholders.