Shifting the Flood Paradigm

[Music]

i was in a village in samoa

in the south pacific and i don’t

remember when the rain started

just that it didn’t stop for more than a

month 24 hours a day

it just kept coming the rivers rose and

soon

no one or nothing could come in or out

we were just there in the flood

have you or a loved one ever been

affected by flooding

think about it

chances are based on statistics you or

someone you know

has been impacted by flooding

there’s a powerless feeling in a flood

you can’t stop the rivers from rising

but for the first time we are in a place

where we can shift the power paradigm

of flooding to the world water resources

the world resource institute flooding is

the most globally impactful

of all natural disasters taking between

four to five thousand lives every year

in the united states 14.7 million

properties homes businesses are at

substantial risk of flooding

costing billions in economic losses

every year

in fact in 2010 we spent 176

billion dollars on global flood recovery

which is equivalent to roughly 20 of the

grocery bill

for every family in the u.s for one year

by 2030

that’ll be 77 of the grocery bill for a

year

by 2050 that’ll be equal to one year and

85 percent of the next

and by 2080 we’re projected

to spend over four trillion dollars on

global flood recovery

which is roughly equivalent to four and

a half years of groceries

for every family in the u.s wow

that’s a lot of money now i’m talking in

terms of groceries because that’s

something i can wrap my head around

i know how much i spend on food but that

money could go to anything

to the national debt healthcare

education back to the citizens you can

do a lot

with four trillion dollars

now we’re pretty good in knowing just

how bad a flood will be

and we’re pretty good at knowing when

they’re going to happen we’ve been

looking to solve flooding since our

earliest civilizations since

noah we’ve been looking for a flood

workaround so why is this still

such a huge problem

because we love water we need it we

always have to have it

we build our cities next to oceans and

rivers

because being next to this critical

resource makes our lives easier

in fact today most of the world lives in

coastal areas

and more and more of the world lives in

urban zones

students and entrepreneurs seeking

bright futures

are drawn to exciting opportunities in

cities

in 2008 for the first time half the

world’s population

was urban by the time my little girls

are my age more than 70 percent

of the world’s population will be urban

that’s a rapid growth

and as cities rapidly grow they alter

their landscape

resulting in more storm water runoff a

decrease in water quality and ultimately

greater impacts due to floods

we seek to allay this through storm

water and flood plain management

but in our dynamic and constantly

involving urban environments

the numbers suggest our traditional

approaches

just aren’t enough unfortunately those

hurt the worst

are the most vulnerable low-income

unsanctioned housing is often located in

areas of an elevated flood risk

families and communities without the

ability to prevent

and combat the economic upheaval

associated with flooding

are those hurt the worst and are hurt

repetitively

this is a global challenge

and i saw this stranded in the village

of samoa where those same floodwaters

destroyed crops flooded markets

and shut down businesses i took this

picture in vanuatu

where this recently washed out bridge

had previously connected communities to

their farms and schools

living in thailand and working in

vietnam and cambodia

seasonal urban flooding made daily

activities like commuting

not only a challenge but risky

flood water is not clean this was

reinforced this summer when

63 million people in southeast asia were

affected by floods

i saw this working in afghanistan where

the dry

climate is perfect for flash floods

lack of resilience rapid urban growth

and flood frequency have unfortunately

made afghanistan one of the world’s

leaders in deaths per capita

due to flooding on top of dealing with

decades of war

this was reinforced in the spring and

summer of 2020

when thousands lost their homes and

hundreds lost their lives

and flooding in afghanistan and i saw

this working in projects in kenya

sierra leone paraguay haiti

but we see this in our own home towns we

see this in philadelphia

when we drive around after a storm or

when we cross lancaster avenue near

villanova seen this when the mississippi

river floods

we’ve seen this in hurricanes like

harvey katrina and sandy we saw this

this summer

in isaiah and we will see this again

this is a challenge that unites us and

these are challenging times

but they’re interesting times sir isaac

newton said if i’ve seen further

it’s because i’ve stood on the shoulder

of giants

and from the shoulders of giants we can

see the world

like we’ve never seen it before

this is an image taken by the astronauts

of apollo 17.

they were some of the first to see our

whole earth

our beautiful lonely planet had just

been revealed

by 2029 57

000 satellites will orbit our planet

generating hundreds of terabytes of

earth data every single day

we’re alive in the data revolution

data’s being generated

constantly not only through satellites

but gauges and sensors through our own

actions just using our cell phones

scientists and engineers are learning

how to harness this information

to gain novel insights into how floods

work

and illuminate new solutions

sitting here at villanova working with a

nature conservancy in catholic relief

services

we can predict exactly which buildings

in freetown sierra leone will flood

without ever stepping foot in freetown

we can predict ideal locations for

infrastructure in haiti

and kenya and apply artificial

intelligence

to know where a river will cross its

banks in utah

from our desk this is being coupled with

advancements in infrastructure

in recent decades engineers have

realized new ways

to harness storm water green storm water

infrastructure

like the one shown here mitigates the

flood pulse while cleaning storm water

using tools from the soil and plants

infiltration evaporation and

transpiration

this has been shown to be effective and

efficient in meeting federal

water regulations and is surprisingly

cost effective too

although this is a fairly new type of

infrastructure it’s

revolutionizing the urban landscape in

philadelphia

in just 10 years thousands of green

storm water systems have been

implemented

taking the city from being one of the

worst offenders of water quality

to a global leader and they’re not alone

similar programs exist in new york city

portland detroit and many many

others and the success of these programs

has fueled global popularity

but the benefits aren’t just limited to

storm water

but extend to community health and

well-being

environmental restoration and flood

plain management

so these are exciting times these are

times of hope

times that we have the potential to

stand up to the challenge of flooding

and here’s the great part we can all be

part of meeting that challenge this is

an

issue of civil infrastructure and civil

infrastructure

is meant to serve civil societies

which includes all of us it includes

everyone so how does one get involved

number one use your voice

we need to be investing in solutions the

world resource institute showed that for

every one dollar spent

on flood protection infrastructure in

india it resulted in 248

of avoided damages similar results were

shown

in other countries if we can invest

in mitigation we can assuage the cost of

flood recovery

ultimately reducing the cost of losses

due to flooding

in the united states where much of our

infrastructure is aging

it needs to be replaced or updated but

civil infrastructure is not one size

fits all

it has to meet the needs of the

community that it serves

so what are the needs of your community

how’s flooding impacted you

speak up let your representatives know

take part in public hearings

and be part of finding the solution for

your community

number two use your actions

imagine a raindrop falls on your roof

as it rolls over your sidewalk or your

yard what does it take with it

the storm water coming from your home or

your business or your community

impacts the rivers and the streams that

it drains into

so make your property or your community

part of the solution

volunteer to help maintain green storm

water infrastructure

or create and invest in green storm

water infrastructure

at your home or your business

this is an example from villanova i’ve

circled it in red

because it’s not that obvious this isn’t

a big obtrusive piece of infrastructure

this is an obtainable feasible solution

and number three innovate stage is set

developments and data computational

power water resource management

have opened the door for advancement

but this isn’t just an issue for

engineering this includes

all of us arts education biology

chemistry urban planning public health

governance business all of us

so what’s your solution what’s your

innovation

what are the next steps

flooding has been an issue that we’ve

faced since our earliest societies

but for the first time we have the

potential

for which we can find solutions

the damages the costs the lives lost we

can change that

in our yards and our communities in our

cities with our voices and our actions

and our innovations

we can find solutions and we can shift

the power paradigm

of flooding thank you