The flood event 2002 in the Elbe river basin, causes of the flood, its course, statistical assessment and flood damages

The flood in the Elbe river basin in summer 2002 was a natural disaster resulting in unprecedented damages in Germany. This paper gives a summarizing survey on causes and progress of this flood event, followed by a preliminary analysis of the effect of water-retention due to dyke failures and controlled flooding of polders. Moreover, the paper presents attempts at a statistical evaluation of the events