Flood disaster databases constitute a critical foundation for enhancing disaster risk reduction (DRR) capacities. Although China has achieved initial progress in developing the National Comprehensive Natural Disaster Risk Database, the fine-grained construction of its data systems and the efficacy of its comprehensive service applications require further exploration and refinement. Given the relatively mature disaster database systems in some developed countries, which offer valuable reference, this study adopts a full-cycle management perspective to construct a novel comparative research framework on the differences. The article points out that the development of China’s flood disaster databases faces bottlenecks: inaccuracies in pre-disaster risk forecasting, lags in mid-disaster emergency response, and difficulties in institutionalizing post-disaster experiences. These challenges expose a full-cycle data fragmentation issue. Conversely, countries like the USA and the Netherlands have accumulated extensive pioneering experience in data standardization, dynamic simulation, collaborative governance, and societal application. Simultaneously, its practical bottlenecks regarding data coverage, response timeliness, and equity in resource allocation provide critical reflections for China’s localized exploration. Accordingly, this study proposes a localization pathway for China’s flood disaster database system construction: institutionally, it is imperative to accelerate the establishment of a government-led, multi-departmental collaborative management mechanism; technologically, priority should be given to advancing flood risk mapping and developing multi-source data integration platforms; in terms of social aspect, regional pilot programs should be conducted in key river basins to evaluate strategic feasibility. These strategies aim to steadily enhance the comprehensive efficacy of China’s flood disaster databases, thereby facilitating their progressive optimization.
Li et al. (Thu,) studied this question.