A new global flood-risk assessment tool developed by the World Resources Institute, the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) of VU University Amsterdam, Deltares, Utrecht University, and PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, has just been released. This first-of-its-kind interactive online platform estimates current and future potential exposed GDP, affected population, and urban damage from river floods for every state, country, and major river basin in the world.
It shows, for instance, that river flooding could affect approximately 21 million people on average per year. By 2030, those numbers could grow to 54 million people, driven by socio-economic development and climate change.
The Flood Analyzer was designed to identify the highest risk places in the world, and to plan accordingly to prevent disasters. The United Nations, World Bank, and similar organizations can use the tool to evaluate flood risks to development projects, helping them prioritize investments in various flood-protection measures. Re-insurance companies can quickly screen the globe to find flood hotspots that need additional financial-risk support. Organizations like Red Cross Red Crescent can evaluate how effective risk-reduction activities are against baseline conditions.
- View the tool: www.wri.org/floods
- Read more: www.wri.org/blog/2015/03/world’s-15-countries-most-people-exposed-river-floods
Scientific papers on which the tool is based
- Ward et al., 2014. Strong influence of El Niño Southern Oscillation on flood risk around the world. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, doi:10.1073/pnas.1409822111
- Ward et al., 2013. Assessing flood risk at the global scale: model setup, results, and sensitivity. Environmental Research Letters, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/044019
- Winsemius et al., 2013. A framework for global river flood risk assessments. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, doi:10.5194/hess-17-1871-2013.
