An inventory of flood events in Athens, Greece, during the last 130 years. Seasonality and spatial distribution

This work focuses on flooding phenomena in A thens metropolitan area in G reece. To this end, based on a flood‐event database aggregated with civil protection and documentary spatial evidence, an exhaustive inventory of floods in the area is developed, including events not previously studied. Fifty‐two floods are identified between 1880 and 2010, in various locations around A thens basin, which caused 182 casualties and substantial damage. Analysis of the inventory shows an increase in flood occurrence during autumn, especially N ovember, and a rise in flood frequency in recent decades. Spatial information is used to identify the segments of the drainage network that overflowed in each of these flooding episodes. Geographic information system‐based spatial analysis of all the events indicates that certain sections of the drainage network, particularly in the central and north‐western parts of the study area, are the most vulnerable to flood phenomena.