Page - 668 - in Book of Full Papers - Symposium Hydro Engineering

need scientific attention, they are taken into scientific consideration within this working group. 3.2. FLOODS Flooding is the condition of waters where the water level is significantly above the mean level. In general floods can be predicted in advance, except in the case of flash floods. Risk areas of floods affect both inner and outer Alpine regions in Austria and beyond and are of high likelihood. That is why flooding is to be addressed within a separate working group. 3.3. EXTREME-WEATHER-EVENTS Under extreme weather events, weather phenomena such as storm, hail, heat and late or extreme frost will be addressed in this group. These occur in hard- to-predict intervals and can only be modeled inaccurately. The main focus of this working group is therefore the prevention of these extreme weather events and its consequences (e.g. Forest fires, droughts…) for public authorities, insurance companies and agricultural decision-makers. 3.4. CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND INDUSTRIAL HAZARDS The working group Critical Infrastructure and Industrial Hazards deals with the topics blackout, electricity, communication, traffic, chemical industry or nuclear power plants with their nuclear hazard potential. Process and Plant Safety is of high importance not only because of natural hazards that have high potential to trigger major industrial accidents. 3.5. DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT This working group deals with disaster risk assessment, implements needs planning and brings socio-scientific and economic aspects into civil protection. Furthermore, response planning and capacity needs are being addressed. These include among others the risk analysis of technologies, technology-related catastrophic events as well as the modeling of disaster consequences and the appraisal of the extent of damage. 668