Critical assessment of existing physical vulnerability estimation approaches for debris flows

An empirical vulnerability function is developed based on the data obtained from the 13 July 2008 debris flow event in the village of Selvetta located in Italian Alps. The obtained function is compared to those reported in the literature. Large differences in the estimated vulnerabilities resulting from the use of different methods suggest that there is a need for further studies with additional data, to construct vulnerability functions that can be used with a higher confidence level.