Making Thailand Resilient To The Next Flood
New technology, new solutions and new ways to fight floods was presented in Bangkok by Environment Solutions, to an exclusive selection of government officials and guests from the private sector.
They all attended with the main purpose of exploring new ways to make cities and businesses more resilient towards floods.
Thailand has first hand experience on how climate change and urbanization are making us increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters. They experience flooding frequently and the next devastation can happen at any given moment.
Flooding is the single most devastating natural disaster in the world and flood damage may globally top 1 trillion dollars a year in 2050.
According to the World Bank, the flood in 2011 was estimated at 1,425 trillion baht (US$46.5 billion) in economic damages and losses due to flooding.
URBANIZATION AGGRAVATES FLOODS BY RESTRICTING WHERE FLOOD WATERS CAN GO
Flooding is a natural phenomenon, but damages and loses resulting from it are the consequence of human activity.
Around two thirds of the rise in economic damages is directly attributable to socio-economic growth; covering the earth with houses, roads and sidewalks that obstruct natural waterways.
Building drains that channel precipitation to rivers at rapid and unnatural speed also increase the risk of flooding.
Traditional emergency responses such as building barriers with sand bags have been the standard cause of action until now, but it has also been proven inadequate in fighting floods.
