Editor's Note: Sonny Patel is a scholar at the U.S. National Institutes, Health Fogarty Global Health and a fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

We have seen the need for further work and focus in countries anticipating future flooding to include community resilience-building activities and stronger emphasis on accountable partnerships, continued knowledge transfers and social networks to connect communities before the next severe flood hits.

Avoiding the ongoing political conversation about climate change and ill-conceived development, severe floods are continuing to harm communities around the world. Unprecedented levels of floods have occurred during the last few weeks in Iran, southwest Africa, south China's Shenzhen, Indonesia, and the United States. 

Communities are being affected without much preparedness, or even with a thorough recovery plan in mind. Building and developing resilient communities have been long underway through initiatives by the World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation and several other institutions but still not enough is being disseminated and applied to match the pace of extreme weather events occurring around the world. 

What lessons can be drawn from these tragedies and what long-term measures shall we take to tackle it? The most important keywords are partnerships and knowledge transfer.

Partnerships will improve and enhance the entire disaster cycle in providing protection and relief to affected citizens and communities. Opportunities exist to make a deep impact in this area, especially in disaster response and recovery processes. Countries should explore to promote and formalize more collaborations with non-profit organizations through a transparent and reliable vetting process with oversite on accountability and deliverables.

For example, in the U.S., deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Daniel Kaniewski, recently stated: "Severe weather and flooding can strike anywhere, whether or not you are in a high-risk area. Insurance is the first and best line of defense." That might be true, unfortunately, not everyone can afford comprehensive insurance in the U.S. and for those who do, the road to recovery tend to be delayed by a long process of paperwork claims. 

Still, in many cases, insurances are financial first respondents and, in the U.S., exploring partnerships could help further reduce financial losses for U.S. citizens and communities and mitigate future risks.

Building upon lessons learned from previous severe flooding events. Last month heavy rains affected over 800,000 people across southeast Africa with over 100 people being killed in Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently declared a week-long mourning for those killed in the floods. 

Mozambique cabinet spokesperson Ana Comoana stated the "government needs 16 million U.S. dollars to assist 80,000 families affected by the rains." 

It is not the first time that Mozambique has suffered such severe floods. Only a few years ago, in 2015, Mozambique faced similar extreme weather events, killing over 100 people. Therefore, details on long-awaited funds for rebuilding flood-resilient communities need to be decided on an urgent basis. 

It may not be a popular time to discuss severe flooding in the midst of so many countries being affected and as countless communities continue to battle flood conditions, however, waiting for a lull between storms cannot be the reason for not implementing lessons learned and applying it globally. 

For example, in the U.S., Higher Ground (formerly Flood Forum U.S.), a project of the nonprofit Anthropocene Alliance, is currently stepping up to link 43 flood survivor groups across 20 U.S. states, making it the largest national flood survivor network in the United States. Support structures and networks between and within communities have been a longstanding lesson learned in the U.S., prominently from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, in improving response against future flooding. Countries must act sooner to provide relief and reassurance to their citizens and communities.

(Cover: Canadian Forces build a wall of sandbags outside a home in the flooded Constance Bay area in Ottawa, Canada, April 30, 2019. /VCG Photo)

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