The 12th Symposium of the Flash Flood Program (FFP12), hosted by IWHR, along with a training session on flash flood disaster mitigation, was successfully held in Hangzhou, China from November 20 to 22.
Under the theme “New Approaches to Flash Flood Control in the Era of Digital Twin Technologies,” the event focused on cutting-edge scientific issues and advanced practical technologies in flash flood disaster mitigation. Particular emphasis was placed on building digital twin watersheds and enhancing forecasting capabilities. A total of 16 renowned experts from China and abroad delivered presentations, fostering in-depth discussions on innovative technologies and strategies to address new challenges and emerging scenarios of flash floods.
A major highlight of the event was the global release of the Rainstorm and Flash Flood Simulation and Early Warning Model, which shares China’s technical expertise and experience in flash flood disaster mitigation with the international community.
Developed over a decade by IWHR’s flash flood disaster mitigation team, the Model tackles critical challenges such as precise monitoring and forecasting of small-scale mountain rainstorms, nonlinear hydrological modeling in small watersheds, and large-scale parallel computing. It creates a multi-stage, progressive monitoring and early warning system for flash flood disasters. This groundbreaking technology has been widely implemented in 29 provinces and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, significantly enhancing China’s flash flood control capabilities.
About the Flash Flood Program (FFP):
The FFP was jointly initiated in 2020 by IWHR and the University of C?te d'Azur in France. The Program aims to develop global strategies for flash flood risk management and advance disaster prevention and mitigation initiatives at all levels, from national to community scales.
