Disaster management takeaways from the flood defense operations on the Mura River in August 2023

Abstract

Based on the observations of water management professionals, major floods on rivers tend to recur every 9 years. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that, in addition to well-known rivers such as the Danube, Tisza, Drava, and Körös, lesser-known watercourses across the country can also cause disruptions for water management and disaster management professionals during the passage of a significant precipitation zone, both abroad and domestically. The Mura River originates in Austria, enters Hungary as a border river, flows along the border, and eventually joins the Drava. Drawing from the lessons of the 2014 flood, flood defense improvements were made along a section of the protective embankments, raising embankments and constructing a mobile flood protection wall with a closure system. During the 2023 flood, which occurred at the end of the observed 9-year cycle, these prior improvements functioned effectively. On the municipal flood protection lines, it was necessary to protect residential buildings and construct temporary embankment elevations. We consider it important for the advancement of the civil protection branch within the disaster management discipline to conduct a scientific examination of recent emergency responses. Analyzing not only the failures but also the successes can shed light on how to avoid future negative events, with a focus on the importance of prevention in both cases. Based on the experiences of recent event management, we mandated the placement of "initial flood protection kits" in settlements along the Mura River. These kits consisted of 500–1000 sandbags and 1–4 cubic meters of sand. With the initial kits, protection of residential buildings can begin coordinated by the arriving water management specialist even before their arrival, ensuring that the emergency response does not suffer from time delays