Politics with Michelle Grattan: Mark Maund on improving our resilience to deal with flood crises
Michelle Grattan speaks with Mark Maund from the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle on the floods currently devastating NSW and QLD
Domestic violence surges during and after bushfires, pandemics, earthquakes, cyclones and floods. We need to start preparing for the next inevitable disaster.
Disasters are becoming more frequent and severe as the climate heats up – but Australia is badly under-prepared.
Flooding is an ongoing problem for NSW residents. Here Cabbage Tree residents prepare to evacuate their home during flooding in 2017.
Tracey Nearmy/AAP Image
Australia’s east coast flooding is forcing people to confront challenges such as evacuations and loss of property. However, Aboriginal people are being left to find their own way through this crisis.
Food is a fundamental human right. But governments have left it to charities and food suppliers to step in after disasters. That has to change as climate change throws up greater stresses.
The damage from storms, droughts and sea level rise is in the news almost daily. Some money is flowing to help poor countries, but what isn’t clear is how much impact the funds are having.
Slow recovery for vulnerable households can slow the recovery of the entire community.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Ryan E. Tompkins, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Susan Kocher, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
After another devastating wildfire year in the West, the Biden administration has a plan to ramp up forest thinning and prescribed burns. Two foresters explain why these projects are so important.
Residents had to be rescued as Hurricane Ida flooded coastal Louisiana in August 2021.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
A hurricane that wreaked havoc from Louisiana to New York City, the Texas freeze and devastating western wildfires topped NOAA’s list of billion-dollar disasters in 2021.
Vehicles line up during a drive-through COVID-19 vaccine clinic at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont., in early January 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg
Canada’s emergency management system is poorly funded and lacks consistent attention between disasters. This chronic underfunding has undermined public confidence and trust in emergency management.
A woman and children who were stranded by high water due to flooding are rescued by a volunteer operating a boat in Abbotsford, B.C., in November 2021. The Insurance Institute of Canada forecasts that annual insured losses from natural disasters could increase to $5 billion within the next 10 years.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Although insurance is important in natural disaster recovery, government and property owners also play an important role in protecting Canadians against the impact of catastrophic weather events.
Wildfires that swept through Sequoia National Forest in California in September 2021 were so severe they killed ancient trees that had adapted to survive fires.
AP Photo/Noah Berger
