University in study of flood risk globally

EXPERTS at the Universities of Hull and Southampton are leading a new £3.7m project that aims to revolutionise our understanding of global flood risk.

Working as part of a consortium of nine UK universities, as well as multiple national and international organisations, the team has been successful in winning major grant funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

The new project, titled Evoflood, aims to create the next generation Global Flood Model – a state-of-the-art computer model used to simulate the probability of flooding across the earth.

Professor Dan Parsons, director of the Energy and Environment Institute at the University of Hull, along with Professor Steve Darby at the University of Southampton, are the principal investigators on the project.

Professor Parsons said: “Flooding is the deadliest and most costly natural hazard on the planet, devastating communities across the globe.

“Every year, on average, more than 6,000 people are killed as a result of flooding, with economic losses exceeding $60bn.

“Unfortunately, these problems will only become more severe in the future.

“That is why improved modelling and simulation of these flood events is so critical in protecting both people’s lives and livelihoods from the effects of climate change.”

Sue Manson, principal scientist at Environment Agency, said: “The Environment Agency is pleased to be a Project Partner supporting the Evoflood Project, which aims to develop a new generation of global scale flood models.

“We support the aims of the research programme which is committed to developing practical learning that will benefit current and future generations and I look forward to working with the project team.”