Flooding and mobility: a polish analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article contains the evaluation of indirect impact, and more precisely, effects related to traffic disruptions and the resultant changes in transport accessibility following the occurrence of a flood. The applied purpose of the analysis is to demonstrate the differentiation in spatial traffic distribution and changes regarding (time and potential) accessibility in three flooding scenarios for the Warta Water Region (the scenario 10% and 1% probability of a flood occurrence, and for the total destruction of stopbanks) in Greater Poland. The research showed that the occurrence of disruptions from untypical flooding impacts both the change in spatial distribution of traffic load within the road network and the speed at which its users can travel therein. This indicates the need to simulate various flooding scenarios in order to be better prepared for the occurrence of such a natural disaster.