FLOOD DAMAGES ASSESSMENT – CASE STUDY M. ZELEŇÁKOVÁ 1 , L. GAŇOVÁ 2 ABSTRACT. – Flood damages assessment – case study. The article deals with the resolution of the problem of managing flood risk with the aim of effective management focusing on reducing flood risks and thus increasing the measure of flood protection. It is elaborated in the sense of currently valid Slovak legislation in the field of flood protection, primarily according to the Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks. Assessment of potential flood damage is carried out for the town of Medzev, which was in the scope of preliminary assessment of flood risk in Slovakia evaluated as an area with an existing potentially significant risk of flood. Given the preliminary results, we can state that in the studied location of Medzev the construction of flood protection measures makes sense, mainly in relation to the protection of property. Keywords: flood risk, economic damages, loss curves, flood protection measures. 1. INTRODUCTION At present, there are clear trends around the world that indicate that the hazard of the river basin is increasing in the coming period. The extent and the extreme nature of the flood episodes point to the need for a comprehensive design of the constructions, supplementing flood protection measures in potentially flooded areas (Houghton et al., 2001). Following the floods in the summer of 2002, several EU Member States have directed the attention of the Council of the European Union to the issue of flood prevention and protection. In October 2004, the Council adopted European flood action programs, which, following the adoption of the relevant legislative procedures, will be common to all Member States of the European Union through a binding legal instrument based on the consistency of the opinion of the European Parliament and the Council. On 23 October 2007, this initiative led the European Parliament and the Council to adopt Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks. The purpose of the Directive is to establish a framework for the assessment and management of flood risks at Community level in order to reduce the adverse impacts of floods on human health, the environment, economic activity and cultural heritage. In the context of meeting the Directive's objectives, risk and risk assessment and risk analysis methods are gaining more and more attention, as they allow us to assess the effectiveness of mitigation and investment optimization costs (Ganoulis, 1 Technical University of Kosice, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Vysokoškolská 4, 042 00 Kosice, Slovakia, E-mail: martina.zelenakova@tuke.sk 2 Slovak Water Management Enterprise, Košice Branch Office, Ďumbierska 14, 041 59 Košice, Slovakia E-mail: lenka.ganova@tuke.sk 119