Scientists from India and the UK have come together to create a real-time early warning system to help reduce the devastating impact of flooding on people and property, particularly in mountainous regions where extreme water events are a major problem.
An international team of researchers from the University of Birmingham, Imperial College London, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, and People’s Science Institute, Dehradun, worked on integrating science, policy and local community-led approaches to create a so-called SMART approach that better fits the local context. Publishing their findings in ‘Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences’ this week, the team hopes their new approach could better signal impending risk from flooding around the world.
“A ‘wicked’ problem is a social or cultural challenge that’s difficult or impossible to solve because of its complex, interconnected nature. We believe that integrating social science and meteorological data will help to identify unknown parts of the puzzle when designing an early warning system,” said co-author Tahmina Yasmin, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham.
“Better engaging with communities and analysing social factors identified by the community at risk – for example, illegal settlement beside riverbanks or slums – will help those driving policy to better understand the risks posed by these hydrometeorological extremes and plan flood response and mitigation which provides communities with improved protection,” she said.