Flooding has always been a serious problem for Rethymno causing an ongoing threat to its residents, homes, businesses and public infrastructure. Major flood events have been encountered throughout the years, resulting in serious damages mainly in the Old Town of Rethymno and the east low-laying areas. Rethymno is located in the drainage basin of the north part of Vrysinas mountain making stormwater flow through the urban area inevitable. In addition, the coastal zone of Rethymno is exposed throughout the years to strong N and NW winds (7-(Bf) with great fetches, resulting in the development of great waves. Changes in wind conditions had resulted in causing storm events more frequently than in the past. More specifically extreme weather conditions with strong winds resulted in the creation of storm waves combines sometimes with flash floods form ephemeral streams.
Owing to the large quantity of stormwater that drains through the streams of Rethymno city, flooding is considered to be one of the natural hazards. Additionally, extreme waves result in violent wave overtopping that occurs along the windward breakwaters of the harbour and threats the stability of breakwaters as well as the safety of human population. Huge quantities of seawater as well as the wider coastal area cause interruption in loading and unloading operations, damage the port facilities, disturb traffic and affect the coastal economic activity (shops, restaurants, etc.). Additionally, the adjacent to the harbour recreational beaches are exposed to erosion.
The ultimate goal for Rethymno case study is to develop a specific actionable roadmap for flood risk management through a Decision Support System (DSS), in collaboration with local stakeholders. The work will include a comprehensive analyses for holistic and multiple risk assessment. The creation of LAAs will distinguish the involved stakeholders. Exploitation of the multi-scale, integrated modelling framework (WP2) will produce downscaled precomputed scenarios for Rethymno in order to address multiple potential hazards. The socio-economic dimension will be incorporated through comprising models such as behavior simulation, agents algorithm, and urban growth scenarios with cellular automata. Hydrological models, mainly precipitation-runoff models, when used with real time data, forecasts or even hypothetical hydrometeorological data, will enable the DSS to become a real-time flood warning system. Research within PEARL will help to enhance existing infrastructure and operational strategies against the danger of flood by helping stakeholders to identify areas that are sensitive to floods and also to define efficient flood management strategies, engineering, environmental and socio economic measures for Rethymno case study.
The National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) organised the first Stakeholders’ Workshop in Rethymno on 1-2 October 2015. The event aimed to set up a local Learning and Action Alliance for the case study area. For this reason, it addressed local authorities and organizations involved in flood risk management in the city and was supported by the Municipality of Rethymno.
Representatives by all crucial institutions attended the workshop, including municipal technical and environmental services, local Civil Protection Units, Regional Unit of Rethymno, Port Authority, Municipal Water Supply and Sewage Company, local NGOs, the Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, the Development Organization of Crete. The Mayor himself, Mr Marinakis Giorgos, also welcomed and participated to the initiative.
In terms of communication, a press release was issued to local media before the event, resulting in a good level of publicity not only of the event, but also of PEARL project in general. Several articles have been published on local newspapers, describing the project, its objectives, expected outcomes, results, and the work carried on by the National Technical University of Athens since the 2nd Project Committee meeting held in Rethymno in July 2014. Articles also focused on the workshop itself and local flood risks, mentioning the extensive damages caused multiple times to Rethymno’s port facilities due to recent storm surges and violent wave overtopping events. Moreover, interviews by NTUA’s team and the mayor were given to local TV channels.
Pictures of the event are available in the Gallery.
The following is an overview of the news items talking about the stakeholders workshop:
| Before the workshop | ||
|---|---|---|
| 28 September 2015 | Nea TV | Συνεργασία Εθνικού Μετσόβειου Πολυτεχνείου με Δήμο Ρεθύμνου στη διαχείριση κι αντιμετώπιση πλημμυρικών φαινομένων |
| 29 September 2015 | Goodnet | Συνέδριο για την έγκαιρη αντιμετώπιση ακραίων υδρο-μετεωρολογικών φαινομένων |
| 29 September 2015 | Rethemniotika Nea |  |
| 29 September 2015 | Kritiki Epitheorisi |  |
| After the workshop | ||
| 1 October 2015 | Nea TV | ΒΙΝΤΕΟ: Πηγή κινδύνου το λιμάνι λόγω έντονων πλημμυρικών φαινομένων |
| 2 October 2015 | Rethemniotika Nea | Με επιστημονική καθοδήγηση η διαχείριση αντιμετώπισης των πλημμυρών στο Ρέθυμνο |
| 7 October 2015 | Rethemniotika Nea | Διεκδικούν επιπλέον χρηματοδότηση για την αποκατάσταση του λιμανιούο |
Here is a collection of articles and videos about floodings in Rethymno:
| 18 March 2014 | Goodnet | Υπερχειλίζει το Φράγμα Ποταμών! | The Potamon Dam started to overflow normally from the spillway |
| 24 October 2014 | Flashnews.gr | Πλημμύρισαν δρόμοι στο Ρέθυμνο απο την βροχή (φωτο) | Probably water entered shops and restaurants in the Old Town of Rethymno. The drainage network had been covered by citizens during summer months, e.g. to avoid bad smells. No maintenance from authorities side was claimed by others |
| Rethemniotika Nea | Πλημμύρισε το ιστορικό κέντρο της πόλης του Ρεθύμνου | ||
| 13 January 2015 | Proto Thema | H θάλασσα βγήκε στη στεριά στο Ρέθυμνο – Δείτε φωτογραφίες | The windward wave breakwater was damaged once more, debris were transferred all over the surrounding roads, right in front of the coast guard buildings |
| Youtube | Πλημμύρα στο Εμπορικό Λιμάνι Ρεθύμνου – Rethymno Port Area Flooding – cretedoc.gr | ||
| Rethemnos | Ρέθυμνο: Έσπασε προστατευτικό τοιχίο του λιμανιού από την κακοκαιρία | ||
| 10 February 2015 | Candia News | Κρήτη: Αυτοκίνητο παρασύρθηκε στο λιμάνι του Ρεθύμνου! (φωτό) | Events in January 2015 happened again. Additionally, a car was swept away from the surrounding roads and ended up in the Old Venetian Harbour |
| Crete Plus | Πλημμύρισε (ξανά) το λιμάνι του Ρεθύμνου – Αυτοκίνητο έπεσε στη θάλασσα! | ||
| Goodnet | Πλημμύρισε ξανά το λιμάνι από τους ισχυρούς ανέμους – Παρασύρθηκε αυτοκίνητο – Κινδύνευσε πυροσβέστης που παρασύρθηκε από το νερό | ||
| Nea Tv | BINTEO: Αυτοκίνητο έπεσε στο λιμάνι του Ρεθύμνου λόγω του καιρού | ||
| Youtube | Καταστροφές στο Ρέθυμνο από Πλημμύρα – Rethymno Flooding Disaster – cretedoc.gr |
The local online newspaper interviewed Project Leader Zoran Vojinovic and Rethymno’s Case Study Leader Christos Makropoulos. Read the article and practice your Greek!
The project received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for Research
Technological Development and Demonstration under Grant Agreement No 603663