An Assessment on the Flood and Flash Flood Regulations in Turkey: A Comparison with Different Countries and Legal Deficiency Analysis

In this study, the flood and flash floods legislations in Turkey were evaluated in the national and international dimensions and compared to regulations of different world countries such as the United States of America (USA), Canada, Italy and Japan. As a result of the evaluation, many shortcomings/deficiency at the current flood and flash flood legislations in Turkey were detected and many flood and flash floods were occurred in the same year or in different periods in the same area depending on these shortcomings. The wrong reconstruction arrangements by making use of the deficiencies in the legislations or wrong engineering studies form the most significant reason of them. Also, the fact that there is not an effective insurance system in Turkey according to the type of disaster as in other world countries can be given as the main reason for all these experienced negative situations. Because of the large and complex structure of the flood and flash flood legislation, suitable legal precautions and engineering preventions to be taken will prevent both the loss of life and property which may occur, and will also reduce or eliminate the economic losses. Therefore, this situation will contribute positively to the national economy