A method for the assessment of coastal flood risk

This paper describes the development and application of a method for evaluating the risk of coastal flooding. The method defines both the area which becomes inundated by a storm of a particular severity, assuming that a sea defence fails, and the likelihood of the defence failing. The risk of flooding is expressed as a risk class: high, medium, or low, depending on the severity of the event that leads to failure of the defence. The method is based upon the use of existing datasets, together with a more quantitative assessment of the likelihood of failure when the quality of environmental data allows. Two levels of analysis have been developed for up to three different failure modes to address the variability of the quality and extent of the data.