Today in disaster resilience (26 September 2025)

Please find below links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…

Recent emergencies/disasters

Child found deceased after floodwaters sweep away vehicle in Barstow, California https://watchers.news/2025/09/20/child-found-deceased-floodwaters-sweep-away-vehicle-barstow-california/

Schools closed and travel disrupted as Typhoon Mitag makes landfall in Guangdong, China https://watchers.news/2025/09/19/schools-closed-travel-disrupted-typhoon-mitag-landfall-guangdong-china/

Tornado damages or destroys 150 homes in Linares, Chile https://watchers.news/2025/09/21/150-homes-damaged-destroyed-tornado-linares-chile/

Super Typhoon Ragasa moving toward Philippines, China and Vietnam https://watchers.news/2025/09/21/super-typhoon-ragasa-forecast-philippines-china-vietnam-september-2025/

Most powerful storm on earth this year lashes Philippines. Hong Kong, Taiwan and southern China on alert https://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/22/asia/super-typhoon-ragasa-philippines-hong-kong-intl-hnk

Eye of Super Typhoon Ragasa moves over Calayan Island, Cagayan, Philippines https://watchers.news/2025/09/22/eye-of-super-typhoon-ragasa-moves-over-calayan-island-cagayan-philippines/

Extreme rainfall floods Kolkata, leaving at least 12 people dead https://watchers.news/2025/09/24/extreme-rainfall-floods-kolkata-12-people-dead/

Matai’an Creek Barrier Lake overflow triggers destructive flooding in Hualien County, Taiwan https://watchers.news/2025/09/23/mataian-creek-barrier-lake-overflow-flooding-hualien-taiwan-september-23-2025/

Typhoon Ragasa makes landfall in Yangjiang City, Guangdong, after leaving 17 dead in Taiwan https://watchers.news/2025/09/24/typhoon-ragasa-makes-landfall-yangjiang-city-guangdong-after-leaving-17-dead-in-taiwan/

Volcanic activity worldwide 25 Sep 2025: Santiaguito volcano, Fuego, Klyuchevskoy, Popocatépetl https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/281751/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-25-Sep-2025-Santiaguito-volcano-Fuego-Klyuchevskoy-Popocatepetl-So.html

Extreme Weather and Climate Change

Exploring the associations of weather and climate with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/3/2/e001805

Australia’s main grid hits record renewable share of 78.6 pct, one state reaches 155 pct wind and solar https://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-main-grid-hits-new-renewable-record-share-of-77-9-per-cent-driven-by-rooftop-pv/

Bushfire deaths increase if climate change not reduced https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/am/bushfire-deaths-increase-if-climate-change-not-reduced/105792382

Europe’s climate refugees: The Greek communities wiped off the map https://www.politico.eu/article/europes-climate-refugees-the-greek-villages-wiped-off-the-map/

Indicators of climate change and environmental degradation https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/foresight/topic/climate-change-environmental-degradation/indicators-climate-change-environmental-degradation_en

Why COP30 must confront the widening climate reality gap https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/09/cop30-must-confront-climate-reality-gap/

Climate Summit 2025 https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/climate-summit-2025

Climate change is fast shrinking the world’s largest inland sea https://phys.org/news/2025-09-climate-fast-world-largest-inland.html

Solar Energy in the North May Work Better Than Previously Thought https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/solar-energy-north-may-work-better-previously-thought

Climate change linked to landslide that buried Swiss village https://phys.org/news/2025-09-climate-linked-landslide-swiss-village.html

Droughts Sync Up as the Climate Changes https://eos.org/research-spotlights/droughts-sync-up-as-the-climate-changes

Half of the annual precipitation falls in fewer and fewer days https://www.climatechangepost.com/news/half-of-the-annual-precipitation-falls-in-fewer-and-fewer-days/

More than 50,000 heat-related deaths in Europe’s recent summers https://www.climatechangepost.com/news/more-than-50000-heat-related-deaths-in-europes-recent-summers/

Extreme weather and climate change impacts hit Africa hard https://www.preventionweb.net/news/extreme-weather-and-climate-change-impacts-hit-africa-hard

Canada, major fossil-fuel producers widen gap between output and climate targets: report https://www.castanet.net/news/Canada/573729/Canada-major-fossil-fuel-producers-widen-gap-between-output-and-climate-targets-report

Climate change tripled heat-related deaths in early summer European heatwave https://www.imperial.ac.uk/grantham/publications/all-publications/climate-change-tripled-heat-related-deaths-in-early-summer-european-heatwave.php

Dangerous climate change threatens Northern Australia’s big ‘food bowl’ dreams https://theconversation.com/dangerous-climate-change-threatens-northern-australias-big-food-bowl-dreams-265727

Running dry: New study warns of extreme water scarcity in the coming decades https://phys.org/news/2025-09-dry-extreme-scarcity-decades.html

New Research Answers Lingering Questions About Siberia’s Exploding Tundra https://gizmodo.com/new-research-answers-lingering-questions-about-siberias-exploding-tundra-2000659562

From drought to deluge: WMO report highlights increasingly erratic water cycle https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/from-drought-deluge-wmo-report-highlights-increasingly-erratic-water-cycle

Is flooding under climate change more predictable than we thought? https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1099151

Rivers in the Sky, Arctic Warming, and What this Means for the Greenland Ice Sheet https://today.uconn.edu/2025/09/rivers-in-the-sky-arctic-warming-and-what-this-means-for-the-greenland-ice-sheet/

Heatwaves in US rivers increasing up to four times faster than air heatwaves https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/heatwaves-us-rivers-increasing-four-times-faster-air-heatwaves

Unlivable: Confronting extreme urban heat in Latin America and the Caribbean https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/documents-and-publications/unlivable-confronting-extreme-urban-heat-latin-america-and

How Vanuatu is facing up to rising climate risks https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/09/23/how-vanuatu-is-facing-up-to-rising-climate-risks/

Who moves under climate stress https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-025-00732-4

By 2100, unchecked climate change could slash global GDP per capita by up to 24% https://phys.org/news/2025-09-unchecked-climate-slash-global-gdp.html

Australia’s horrifying climate future in four charts – and how we can avoid the worst https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/sep/25/australias-horrifying-climate-future-in-four-charts-and-how-we-can-avoid-the-worst

Simpler models can outperform deep learning at climate prediction https://phys.org/news/2025-08-simpler-outperform-deep-climate.html

Pathways for prevention of cascading tipping points https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02662-x

What Powered the World in 2024? https://www.visualcapitalist.com/what-powered-the-world-in-2024/

Heat Stress Is a Major Driver of India’s Kidney Disease Epidemic https://e360.yale.edu/features/india-kidney-disease-climate-outdoor-workers

How cities are beating the heat https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/09/25/world/europe/cities-heat-solutions-climate-crisis.html

Asynchronous abrupt warming across Eurasia since the 1980s https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-025-01209-3

Disaster risk reduction

A new approach has been piloted in Timor-Leste: Anticipatory Mapping with the Red Cross Climate Centre https://www.hotosm.org/projects/anticipatory-mapping-for-climate-resilience-in-timor-leste/

The next generation of wildfire risk models must account for the built environment https://headwaterseconomics.org/natural-hazards/wildfire/wildfire-risk-models-built-environment/

What will it take to protect cities from the rising threat of floods? https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/europeandcentralasia/what-will-it-take-to-protect-cities-from-the-rising-threat-of-fl

Quakes can reshape rivers and raise flood risks https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/news-and-events/news/2025/quakes-can-reshape-rivers-and-raise-flood-risks

From cloudbursts to cascades: How to prevent the Himalayas from breaking https://www.preventionweb.net/drr-community-voices/cloudbursts-cascades-how-prevent-himalayas-breaking

Nature-Based flood adaptation in Kigali’s Mpazi sub-catchment https://www.nature-basedsolutions.com/page/1306/nature-based-flood-adaptation-in-kigali%E2%80%99s-mpazi-sub-catchment

Volcanic Eruptions in One Hemisphere Linked to Floods in the Opposite One https://eos.org/articles/volcanic-eruptions-in-one-hemisphere-linked-to-floods-in-the-opposite-one

Three Actions to Build Resilient Schools and Hospitals in the Caribbean https://blogs.iadb.org/sostenibilidad/en/three-actions-to-build-resilient-schools-and-hospitals-in-the-caribbean/

The impact of Atlantic hurricanes on business activity https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/documents-and-publications/impact-atlantic-hurricanes-business-activity

September 2025 PPG Update: Flood Risk Sequential Test https://www.unda.co.uk/news/september-2025-ppg-update-flood-risk-sequential-test/

New AI flood model gives water managers up-to-the-minute decision-making tool https://news.fiu.edu/2025/new-ai-flood-model-gives-water-managers-up-to-the-minute-decision-making-tool

Masked graph neural network for rapid ground motion prediction in Italy https://seismica.library.mcgill.ca/article/view/1655

Whose tide is highest? Canadian towns battle it out over Guinness World Record title https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/22/canada-towns-slug-it-out-over-whose-tide-is-highest-burntcoat-head-park-bay-of-fundy-nunavik-tasiujaq-leaf-basin-ungava

World Risk Report 2025 – Focus: Floods https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/documents-and-publications/world-risk-report-2025-focus-floods

Global consultation on the draft Global Disaster-Related Statistics Framework (G-DRSF) https://www.preventionweb.net/news/global-consultation-draft-global-disaster-related-statistics-framework

Computing Resilience Measures in Dynamical Systems https://arxiv.org/html/2509.19609v1

Emergency Management

Storm preparedness and resiliency work is absolutely essential https://www.theinvadingsea.com/2025/09/19/atlantic-hurricane-season-florida-power-and-light-utilities-electric-grid-storm-protection-plans/

Bushfire survivors still camping years later amid construction backlog https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-23/mallacoota-builders-struggle-five-years-after-black-summer-fires/105562838

The strategic value of civil protection exercises https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/documents-and-publications/strategic-value-civil-protection-exercises

Pakistan floods batter fields, factories and fiscal plans https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/pakistan-floods-batter-fields-factories-fiscal-plans-2025-09-23/

Disaster Education, Communications and Engagement

Rethinking Risk Education Through Object-Based Learning and the Arts https://societyriskanalysis.libsyn.com/rethinking-risk-education-through-object-based-learning-and-the-arts

President Lai stresses public disaster preparedness in annual drills https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202509190015

How artificial intelligence is enabling a “culture of preparedness” in Peru https://www.connectingbusiness.org/news-events/news/artificial-intelligence-disaster-preparedness-peru-story

NSW RFS provides tips on preparing your home for bushfires https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-20/rfs-tips-on-preparing-your-home-for-bushfires/105787496

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 2025 https://iddrr.undrr.org/

Stop Disasters: simulation support game materials https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/educational-materials/stop-disasters-simulation-support-game-materials

Stop disasters: Using the UNDRR game as a learning tool for disaster risk reduction and resilience https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/educational-materials/stop-disasters-using-undrr-game-learning-tool-disaster-risk

Disaster psychology

Decoding the Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/decoding-the-impact-of-climate-change-on-mental-health

People with schizophrenia were hit hard by B.C.’s deadly 2021 heat dome https://theconversation.com/people-with-schizophrenia-were-hit-hard-by-b-c-s-deadly-2021-heat-dome-265173

Sociology and disasters

Rebuilding communities following the Great East Japan earthquake through mutual help: Restoration of ties in the radiation-contaminated areas https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15575330.2025.2561574

When the heat rises, progress on women’s economic empowerment cools https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/developmenttalk/when-the-heat-rises–progress-on-women-s-economic-empowerment-co

Published by

Unknown's avatar

NeilDufty

I am a Principal Scientist at Water Technology Pty Ltd, an Australian-based coastal, environment and natural hazards company - see https://www.watertech.com.au/. I specialise in the community aspects of disaster risk reduction and emergency management. Samples of my research and projects can be accessed at https://works.bepress.com/neil_dufty/ Check out my latest book 'Disaster Education, Communication and Engagement' at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119569796/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i6 I am also a published fiction writer specialising in short stories and poems - see https://neilduftyfiction.com/

Leave a comment