Transcriber:
I was in a village in Samoa,
in the South Pacific,
and I don't remember
when the rain started,
just that it didn't stop.
For more than a month,
24 hours a day, it just kept coming.
The rivers rose, and soon
no one or nothing could come in or out.
We were just there, in the flood.
Have you or a loved one
ever been affected by flooding?
Think about it.
Chances are, based on statistics,
you or someone you know
has been impacted by flooding.
There's a powerless feeling in a flood.
You can't stop the rivers from rising.
But for the first time, we are in a place
where we can shift
the power paradigm of flooding.
According to the World
Water Resource Institute,
flooding is the most globally impactful
of all natural disasters,
taking between 4,000 to 5,000
lives every year.
In the United States,
14.7 million properties, homes, businesses
are at substantial risk of flooding,
costing billions
in economic losses every year.
In fact, in 2010,
we spent 176 billion dollars
on global flood recovery,
which is equivalent to roughly
20 percent of the grocery bill
for every family in the US for one year.
And by 2080, we're projected
to spend over four trillion dollars
on global flood recovery.
Wow, that's a lot of money.
Now I'm talking in terms of groceries
because that's something
I can wrap my head around.
I know how much I spend on food.
But that money could go to anything:
to the national debt, health care,
education, back to the citizens.
You can do a lot
with four trillion dollars.
Now we're pretty good in knowing
just how bad a flood will be,
and we're pretty good at knowing
when they're going to happen.
We've been looking to solve flooding
since our earliest civilizations,
Since Noah, we've been looking
for a flood workaround.
So why is this still such a huge problem?
Because we love water, we need it,
we always have to have it.
We build our cities
next to oceans and rivers
because being next
to this critical resource
makes our lives easier.
In fact, today most of the world
lives in coastal areas,
and more and more of the world
lives in urban zones.
Students and entrepreneurs
seeking bright futures
are drawn to exciting
opportunities in cities.
In 2008, for the first time,
half the world's population was urban.
By the time my little girls are my age,
more than 70 percent
of the world's population will be urban.
That's a rapid growth.
And as cities rapidly grow,
they alter their landscape,
resulting in more stormwater runoff,
a decrease in water quality
and ultimately
greater impacts due to floods.
We seek to allay this through stormwater
and floodplain management,
but in our dynamic and constantly
evolving urban environments,
the numbers suggest our traditional
approaches just aren't enough.
Unfortunately, those hurt the worst
are the most vulnerable.
Low-income unsanctioned housing
is often located in areas
of an elevated flood risk.
Families and communities
without the ability to prevent and combat
the economic upheaval
associated with flooding
are those hurt the worst,
and are hurt repetitively.
This is a global challenge.
And I saw this, stranded
in the village of Samoa,
where those same floodwaters
destroyed crops,
flooded markets and shut down businesses.
I took this picture in Vanuatu,
where this recently washed out bridge
had previously connected communities
to their farms and schools.
Living in Thailand
and working in Vietnam and Cambodia,
seasonal urban flooding
made daily activities like commuting
not only a challenge, but risky.
Floodwater is not clean.
This was reinforced this summer
when 63 million people in Southeast Asia
were affected by floods.
I saw this working in Afghanistan,
where the dry climate
is perfect for flash floods.
Lack of resilience,
rapid urban growth and flood frequency
have unfortunately made Afghanistan
one of the world's leaders
in deaths per capita due to flooding,
on top of dealing with decades of war.
This was reinforced
in the spring and summer of 2020,
when thousands lost their homes
and hundreds lost their lives
in flooding in Afghanistan.
And I saw this working in projects
in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Paraguay, Haiti.
But we see this in our own hometowns.
We see this in Philadelphia
when we drive around after a storm
or when we cross
Lancaster Avenue near Villanova.
We've seen this when
the Mississippi River floods.
We've seen this in hurricanes
like Harvey, Katrina and Sandy.
We saw this this summer in Isaias,
and we will see this again.
This is a challenge that unites us.
And these are challenging times,
but they're interesting times.
Sir Isaac Newton said,
"If I've seen further,
it's because I've stood
on the shoulder of giants."
And from the shoulders of giants,
we can see the world
like we've never seen it before.
This is an image taken
by the astronauts of Apollo 17.
They were some of the first
to see our whole Earth.
Our beautiful lonely planet
had just been revealed.
By 2029, 57,000 satellites
will orbit our planet,
generating hundreds of terabytes
of Earth data every single day.
We are alive in the data revolution.
Data is being generated constantly,
not only through satellites,
but gauges and sensors,
through our own actions,
just using our cell phones.
Scientists and engineers are learning
how to harness this information
to gain novel insights
into how floods work
and illuminate new solutions.
Sitting here at Villanova,
we can predict ideal locations
for infrastructure in Haiti and Kenya
and apply artificial intelligence
to know where a river
will cross its banks in Utah --
from our desk.
This is being coupled
with advancements in infrastructure.
In recent decades,
engineers have realized new ways
to harness stormwater.
Green stormwater infrastructure,
like the one shown here,
mitigates the flood pulse
while cleaning stormwater,
using tools from the soil and plants.
Infiltration, evaporation
and transpiration --
this has been shown
to be effective and efficient
in meeting federal water regulations,
and is surprisingly cost-effective, too.
Although this is a fairly new
type of infrastructure,
it's revolutionizing the urban landscape.
In Philadelphia in just 10 years,
thousands of green storm water systems
have been implemented,
taking the city from being one
of the worst offenders of water quality
to a global leader.
And they're not alone.
Similar programs exist in New York City,
Portland, Detroit and many, many others.
And the success of these programs
has fueled global popularity.
But the benefits
aren’t just limited to stormwater
but extend to community
health and well-being,
environmental restoration
and floodplain management.
So these are exciting times.
These are times of hope,
times that we have the potential
to stand up to the challenge of flooding.
And here's the great part:
we can all be part
of meeting that challenge.
This is an issue of civil infrastructure,
and civil infrastructure
is meant to serve civil societies,
which includes all of us.
It includes everyone.
So how does one get involved?
Number one, use your voice.
We need to be investing in solutions.
The World Resources Institute showed
that for every 1 dollar spent
on flood protection
infrastructure in India,
it resulted in 248 dollars
of avoided damages.
Similar results were shown
in other countries.
If we can invest in mitigation,
we can assuage the cost of flood recovery,
ultimately reducing the cost
of losses due to flooding.
In the United States,
where much of our infrastructure is aging,
it needs to be replaced or updated.
But civil infrastructure
is not one-size-fits-all.
It has to meet the needs
of the community that it serves.
So what are the needs of your community?
How has flooding impacted you?
Speak up, let your representatives know,
take part in public hearings
and be part of finding the solution
for your community.
Number two, use your actions.
Imagine a raindrop falls on your roof.
As it rolls over
your sidewalk or your yard,
what does it take with it?
The stormwater coming from your home
or your business or your community
impacts the rivers and the streams
that it drains into.
So make your property or your community
part of the solution.
Volunteer to help maintain
green stormwater infrastructure
or create and invest
in green stormwater infrastructure
at your home or your business.
This is an example from Villanova.
I've circled it in red
because it's not that obvious.
This isn't a big,
obtrusive piece of infrastructure.
This is an obtainable, feasible solution.
And number three, innovate.
Stage is set.
Developments and data,
computational power,
water resource management
have opened the door for advancements.
But this isn’t just
an issue for engineering;
this includes all of us.
Arts, education, biology, chemistry,
urban planning, public health, governance,
business, all of us.
So what's your solution?
What's your innovation?
What are the next steps?
Flooding has been an issue
that we've faced
since our earliest societies.
But for the first time,
we have the potential
for which we can find solutions.
The damages, the cost, the lives lost.
We can change that.
In our yards and our communities
and our cities,
with our voices and our actions
and our innovations,
we can find solutions
and we can shift
the power paradigm of flooding.
Thank you.