When Waters Rise: Cross-Border Science for Global Flood Response

Date: November 29, 2022 Location: Online Event

Around the world, flooding is wreaking havoc on people’s daily lives with increasing magnitude and frequency. Communities in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Cameroon are experiencing some of the worst floods in a decade, as they sweep across western and central African borders. In Pakistan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia, and the United States—such as in Florida and Kentucky—communities have faced multiple dangerous and deadly floods in just the last few months. These unprecedented flood events have killed thousands of people, displaced millions, decimated farms and businesses, and destroyed homes and habitats.

The World Bank reports that about one and a half billion people are at risk from flooding, one-third of whom are living in poverty, making them more vulnerable to migration pressures and economic insecurity. While flooding can be a natural phenomenon that can help provide fertile soil and sustain wetlands, today’s floods are becoming more frequent, dangerous, and deadly, as a result of human-caused climate disruption and development in urban, coastal areas. When flood water crosses national borders, “transboundary floods” can be even more catastrophic without international cooperation around emergency management, such as early warning systems.

Panelists explore the role scientific and technical experts can play in large-scale, international flood prediction, prevention, preparation and response. Hear from panelists in flood reduction infrastructure, community response, and emergency preparedness on how scientists are urgently working across borders, and what they need for more research and science policy solutions to address flood disasters.

• Nora El-Gohary, Professor of Construction Engineering and Management, The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois 
• Njoki Mwarumba, Assistant Professor of Emergency Management and Disaster, University of Nebraska Omaha 
• Anthony Torres, Chief Meteorologist and Head of Global Science Operations, Currently weather service  
• Campbell Watson, Senior Research Scientist – IBM Research, Global Lead, Accelerated Discovery—Climate & Sustainability 
• Ugochi Anyaka-Oluigbo, Environment and Conservation Journalist, Nigeria (Moderator) 

This panel recording is part of the International Science Reserve’s webinar series, Science Unusual: R&D for Global Crisis Response.