Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
<jats:p>Flooding is a phenomenon that cannot be prevented. Some human activities, such as the growth of settlements and economic assets in the floodplains, as well as the declining natural capacity of the soil to retain water caused by land use and climate change, are key factors in increasing the likelihood of floods and their adverse effects. The study is based on the data published in the National Statistical Institute Annual Reports, aiming to analyse and summarise the cases of floods in the urban areas in Bulgaria. The flood risk in the country in the period 2007-2021 is assessed for the urban areas near 17 hydrometric stations (HS). The flood index K is used to determine the areas with the highest sensitivity to floods as well as to extreme floods with significant adverse effects. The results have shown that only particular areas occasionally show high sensitivity to floods. As an average, however, for the study period, there is no area (HS) with river basins that are very sensitive to floods (K≥0.3) for the investigated period (2007-2021). Seven of the nineteen HS are sensitive to floods: Glozhene (HS2), Targovishte (HS6), Varna (HS8), Sofia-Orlandovtsi (HS12), Yambol (HS15), Burgas (HS17) and Kardzhali (HS19).</jats:p>