Recent flood-related disasters (Japan, Thailand, US, Australia) emphasize the need for an effective management of flood risks. As an introduction to this special issue, this editorial summarizes some of the key challenges in the field. Flood risk management needs to recognize the interconnections between infrastructures, economic systems and the role of human factors in assessing and managing the risk. The challenge for flood management in the future is to develop robust and resilient solutions that perform well in uncertain future conditions.