An historical database on alluvial events in torrential catchments of Campania region (southern Italy)

Alluvial events in Italy are a constant and continuous problem due to the peculiar orographic and climatic setting of the territory. Even though less frequent than in the Alps, debris-flows and floods greatly contributed also along the Southern Apennines to build alluvial fans, a widespread geomorphic unit typically located at the catchment mouth. These areas have been frequently chosen as sites for the urban development, as they were considered safer than the valley bottom, for the lower probability of being affected by floods. Heavy rainfall events, typically characterizing the study area, due to its orographic position, could produce flash floods with large debris loads, which may be extremely hazardous for the population, and cause heavy damage. Starting from the consideration that past events could provide information on future events, we compiled a database on alluvial events in torrential catchments of Campania Region, an highly prone area to such phenomena. By consulting different types of information sources we selected documentation on about 500 events. The database is being constantly updated, and contains temporal and spatial information for each event, since availability of these data is considered a mandatory step in order to perform a correct hazard and risk analysis.