UtilityWire’s Post

10 killed in Brazil floods as governor warns of 'biggest climate disaster' to come Civil Defense Department officials warned the Blang Dam is at risk of breaking on the Caí River. Residents in the flood zone are being told to evacuate. Torrential rains of nearly a half-foot in 24 hours across southern Brazil led to flooding that has killed at least 10 people. Part of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul was hit by resistant rains beginning Monday, and Brazil's National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) is forecasting more rain through Thursday. Nearly 6 inches of rain fell between Monday and Tuesday in hard-hit areas, an additional 7 inches is possible through Thursday as a broad area of low-pressure advances toward the states of Santa Catarina and Paraná. #disasters #floods #emergencyresponse #climatechange

Your Friday read is here! After my experience in Morocco this month with a scary flood in my city that literally came out of nowhere, I decided to dig into this awesome recent publication that presents a hopeful model that helps predict inundations and human displacement in real time. Picture this: you’re curled up on your couch with a hot cup of tea (or driving home from the airport aka me a couple of weeks ago!), watching the rain gently tap on the window. It seems peaceful—until it’s not. Suddenly, that quiet drizzle becomes a downpour, the streets outside are turning into rivers, and before you know it, there’s a flood. It’s one of nature’s most powerful and unpredictable forces, worsened by climate change, and every year it claims the lives of many people, leaves millions of others displaced, destroys homes, and renders entire communities in a long struggle to recover from the damages. But floods aren’t just bad luck or accidents—they’re part of a larger story that’s getting more intense as our planet warms. With climate change in full swing, floods are becoming more frequent, more severe, and more widespread. In fact, the number of people exposed to floods and other natural disasters has been steadily climbing over the years. The worst part? It’s often those least prepared and most vulnerable who bear the brunt of it. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dmxpKXXX

The U.K. Met Office warned of “extreme rainfall” for central and southern Europe. “Some rivers may experience 1 in 100 year events,” it tweeted. French and Swiss disaster officials are warning of catastrophic flood risk for parts of central Europe. “The current forecast maps are reminiscent of the catastrophic floods of 2002, when a similar weather pattern led to devastating floods in the Czech Republic, Austria and eastern Germany,” wrote MétéoSuisse, the government meteorological agency in Switzerland, on Thursday. I hope that the people in my network and friends will be placed in safety. Flood Safety Tips : ☑️ Stay Informed: Keep updated with local news and weather forecasts for flood warnings. ☑️ Evacuation: If advised to evacuate, do so immediately. Know your evacuation routes and have a plan in place. ☑️ Avoid Floodwaters: Never walk, swim, or drive through floodwaters. As little as six inches of fast-moving water can knock you down, and one foot can sweep away a vehicle. ☑️ Move to Higher Ground: If flooding occurs, move to the highest level of your home but avoid enclosed spaces like attics without exits. ☑️ Electrical Safety: Turn off utilities if instructed to do so. Avoid contact with electrical equipment if you are wet or standing in water. ☑️ Emergency Kit: Have an emergency kit ready with essentials, including food, water, medications, and important documents. ☑️ Post-Flood Precautions: Avoid floodwaters as they may contain hazardous materials. Wait for the "all-clear" before returning to affected areas.

A recent Politico article sounded a warning about the nation’s flood preparations – with #ClimateChange accelerating flood risk to arguably more ‘catastrophic’ levels than any time over the last seventy years. The UK’s flood defences are extensive, with government plans to invest £5.2 billion in flood and coastal erosion schemes from 2021 – 2027. Yet as extreme weather events such as drought and floods become increasingly frequent, #NatureBasedSolutions (NbS) could provide substantive benefits. Implementing NbS has the potential to not just #mitigate flood risk, but also provide climate change adaptation measures and bring about positive change for the climate and #biodiversity. Natural flood management such as a catchment-based approach to flood resilience can help reduce flood risk to vulnerable #communities. It is clear the UK’s water sector is at a critical juncture – and the incoming government must collaborate with industry leaders and decision-makers to deliver a strategic and long-term approach to flood risk. Working closely with our clients, GHD is reshaping the #water sector to build a sustainable future. Movement towards becoming #NaturePositive is a critical piece of the puzzle to tackle the interlocked crises of disaster risk, climate change, and biodiversity loss – and ensure future communities are #resilient for years to come. https://lnkd.in/eckJ3_zb #NbS #FloodRisk #WaterSolutions #resilience

🌍 Happy Earth Day! Today, let's talk about the lifeblood of our planet – water. Water sustains all life, but when not managed properly, it can wreak havoc on our communities. Did you know that flooding is one of the most significant threats associated with rivers? As rapid climate change and its consequences intensify, so do the risks of flooding and subsequent geohazards, impacting communities worldwide. Last weekend, massive flood triggered by unprecedented rain in Canton, a province of China, has reached 5.9 m above warning limit in some of the major rivers, has caused catastrophic debris flows and threatened millions of lives. In Canada, where our beautiful rivers are a defining feature of the landscape, understanding flood risks is crucial. That's where initiatives like The Canada Flood Map Inventory come in. This great resource provides an index of available flood mapping studies across the country, offering valuable data on flood risks, dates, public availability, and download links. You can assess it here: https://lnkd.in/gHDec4_x. By harnessing this data, we can better prepare for and mitigate the impacts of flooding, safeguarding both our communities and our precious natural environments. Let's work together and build a recipient future. Happy Earth Day! 🌊 #EarthDay #FloodPrevention #GeoHazard #CanadaFloodMapInventory

🔔 New content alert | Dikes won’t do: why Europe is failing to reduce flood risks 🌊 Recent floods in central Europe have exposed significant gaps in our approach to flood risk management. Traditional solutions like dikes and levees, while essential, are no longer enough in the face of increasingly severe weather patterns caused by climate change. 💡 In a recent piece for SEI — Stockholm Environment Institute, Janne Parviainen explores why Europe’s reliance on hard infrastructure isn't reducing flood risks—and why we need more nature-based and adaptive solutions to protect communities in the long run. 🔗 https://buff.ly/3N0Lhmk #ClimateChange #FloodRisk #CentralEurope #Sustainability #NatureBasedSolutions #ClimateAdaptation #Resilience #StormBoris

New publication! Our paper, "Quality of Cities’ Networks of Plans and Prospects for Flood Resilience," has just been published! This study explores to what extent networks of plans uniformly foster resilience to flooding. Our findings identify opportunities for more integrated planning to tackle flooding and climate change. I'm grateful to work with this incredible team of co-authors and contribute to this important conversation. Check out our paper for a deeper understanding of how cities can better prepare for future floods. https://lnkd.in/evEXzAXW #UrbanPlanning #FloodResilience #Sustainability #ClimateChange #ResearchPublication #resilience

Our thoughts are with those dealing with the massive flood in the Cairns Region. From ABC News: How a low-level category cyclone caused Cairns' largest flood in more than a century As heavy rain starts to ease across north Queensland, and flood evacuations continue, locals are wondering how a relatively low-level category cyclone turned into such chaos. The state may be used to flooding and heavy rains, but emergency services say these deluges have gone to another level. More than a century of flood records were broken in rivers just outside of Cairns and the Daintree, as ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper dumped unrelenting rain over the region, with flood warnings still in place. According to Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll, these falls were also "unexpected". So what happened? Stalled system opens the tap on the Daintree and Cairns Central Queensland University climate scientist Steve Turton said the deluges ultimately came down to the movement and pace of ex-Cyclone Jasper, which stalled unexpectedly. He said models were showing the remains of system moving into the Gulf of Carpentaria, "taking the rain with it". But instead, it ended up sitting just inland of Kowanyama, setting up what he called a "stationary convergence zone", and opening the tap on the region. "Because it was sitting put, it was bringing very moist air down on its northern flank, and that was meeting air coming up from a ridge of high pressure in the Tasman Sea, that was bringing in equally moist south-east trade winds," he said. "That convergence [of winds] was the main forcing mechanisms, pushing the air upwards, and releasing that very saturated air in the form of rainfall." Professor Turton said the mountains in the region also provided an additional "uplift". "And it's like a tap, and it will keep doing that pretty well indefinitely until eventually the low either weakens or moves away," he said. The result was non-stop rain for two days, and an emergency that rapidly grew across the region. Figures from the Bureau of Meteorology show over 2 metres of rain have fallen in some gauges in the Mossman Gorge region, and 1.9m of rainfall at the Kuranda Railway Station. The Bairds rain gauge saw 870 millimetres to 9am Monday, the third highest Australian 24-hour rain record, and the heaviest anywhere in Australia since 1958. Mossman South and Whyanbeel Valley both had over 700mm, which were all time records for the sites. Meanwhile Cairns has received over 600mm of rainfall over the course of the event. It's this stamina that has made the event so remarkable, says Professor Turton. "It's the rates of rainfall, and the fact that it's been over a period of at least two to three days," he said. "That's what makes it extraordinary." Read the full article here - https://lnkd.in/gdNx_ksD

I am excited to share our new paper evaluating the quality of networks of plans to advance flood resilience, with my coauthors Sierra C Woodruff, Sara Meerow, Bryce Hannibal, Melina Matos, Ph.D., and Philip Gilbertson! ---- Urban flood resilience is a function of the collective intent of all planning efforts or network of plans. Yet, most studies focus on single plan types; it is unclear whether plans work cohesively. We asked to what extent do networks of plans uniformly foster resilience to flooding. We adapted plan quality evaluation methodology to evaluate four cities’ networks of plans. All four networks uniformly state goals, including flood resilience and sustainability goals, but exclude details on flood exposure and vulnerability. Moreover, all four networks lack implementation guidelines. We identify opportunities for more integrated planning to tackle flooding and climate change. https://lnkd.in/gSyn5rzw

Excited to see our paper now published! Excellent work by Kees leading this U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - DELTARES USA INC - Deltares collaboration. 💪 We estimated compound flood hazards, impacts and risk for over 1500 km US southeast coastline for both Tropical and extratropical cyclone events. 🌀 #SFINCS made it possible to simulate over 80,000 events and calculate probabilistic compound flooding on a grid cell basis. ⏩ Our findings? Extratropical cyclones pose a significant yearly flood impact, while tropical cyclones dramatically amplify the risk during rarer 100-year events, contributing to over half of the regional flood risk. 📈 Read more details here: Nederhoff, K., Leijnse, T.W.B., Parker, K. et al. Tropical or extratropical cyclones: what drives the compound flood hazard, impact, and risk for the United States Southeast Atlantic coast?. Nat Hazards (2024). https://lnkd.in/eyeGZUYA