Disaster Risk Reduction News October 2025 | Global Updates

Disaster Risk Reduction News October 2025 brings you the latest global insights into how countries and communities are strengthening resilience against floods, wildfires, droughts, and extreme weather. This edition explores innovative AI tools, climate adaptation research, and real-world strategies shaping the future of disaster management.

News: Intense rain, landslides and potholes everywhere: how climate change is trashing Australia’s roads

By Conversation Media Group, the on Oct 06, 2025 05:40 pm
Australia has one of the world’s longest road networks. It was hard and expensive enough to maintain this network before climate change began causing havoc. Now, climate change is a major cause of their accelerated deterioration.

News: Millions of buildings at risk from sea level rise, McGill-led study finds

By McGill University on Oct 06, 2025 05:39 pm
Sea level rise could put more than 100 million buildings across the Global South at risk of regular flooding if fossil fuel emissions are not curbed quickly, according to a new McGill-led study published in npj Urban Sustainability.

News: From storm to strength: Odisha’s “zero casualty” model for community-centered disaster resilience

By United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) on Oct 06, 2025 05:39 pm
Odisha pursued a “zero casualty” model and created the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) in 2000, invested in cyclone shelters, early warning systems and a specialized disaster response force.

News: New study shows all-in-one coronavirus vaccines could save millions of lives in future pandemics

By Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations on Oct 06, 2025 05:39 pm
A new study reveals that vaccines designed to protect against a wide range of coronaviruses could dramatically reduce deaths and economic disruption and limit the need for lockdowns in the event of another global coronavirus pandemic.

News: An absurdist theater artist prepares New Yorkers for climate disasters

By Grist Magazine on Oct 06, 2025 05:39 pm
Flood Sensor Aunty strives to educate people about the threat by combining absurdist comedy with practical advice for surviving disasters yet to come. It celebrates the power of the community to overcome crises, and provides audiences with useful tools.

News: Tackling the pressing challenge of defying drought in West Africa – An Africa water center is established to strengthen capacity in the water sector

By World Bank, the on Oct 06, 2025 05:00 pm
A two-day High-Level Forum on Defying Drought (D2) in West Africa concluded today in Ouagadougou with a strong commitment to address the pressing challenges of drought in the region, amid the broader context of climate change and population growth.

News: Hotter weather may be making more children sick

By Yale Climate Connections on Oct 06, 2025 04:13 pm
At two hospitals in Texas, the number of children coming into the ER with heat-related illnesses more than doubled between 2012 and 2023.

News: The AI revolution in weather forecasting is here

By Eos – AGU on Oct 06, 2025 04:08 pm
The past decade has seen explosive growth in forecasting research and applications using AI. Sophisticated new approaches show vast potential to support public safety, health, and economic prosperity.

News: At least 170 US hospitals face major flood risk. Experts say Trump is making it worse.

By KFF Health News on Oct 06, 2025 04:02 pm
When a big storm hits, Peninsula Hospital could be underwater. At this decades-old psychiatric hospital on the edge of the Tennessee River, an intense storm could submerge the building in 11 feet of water, cutting off all roads around the facility.

News: Study shows the world is far more ablaze now with damaging fires than in the 1980s

By PhysOrg, Omicron Technology Ltd on Oct 06, 2025 03:50 pm
Earth’s nastiest and costliest wildfires are blazing four times more often now than they did in the 1980s because of human-caused climate change and people moving closer to wildlands, a new study found.

News: Flood-prone Houston faces hard choices for handling too much water

By Conversation Media Group, the on Oct 06, 2025 03:36 pm
Eight years after Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston in 2017, flooding hundreds of thousands of homes, the city still awaits a comprehensive flood protection system.

News: Wildfire risks from Hurricane Helene, one year later

By North Carolina State University (NCSU) on Oct 06, 2025 03:26 pm
NC State researchers are coordinating with first responders to prepare for an environmental “domino effect” a year after Hurricane Helene — and envisioning the potential of climate-resilient cities.

News: How flood control projects fail the poor in the Philippines

By Context on Oct 06, 2025 03:14 pm
Poor construction, corruption and ‘ghost’ flood control projects plague disaster mitigation efforts in the Philippines.

News: Tourism: A catalyst for better disaster management

By Connecting Business initiative on Oct 02, 2025 09:29 pm
Companies in the tourism sector can play a critical role in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, minimizing the impact of the crisis and catalysing a faster recovery.

News: How AI tools are transforming disaster response, preparedness

By Texas A&M University System on Oct 02, 2025 01:28 pm
Researchers are developing artificial intelligence systems that can be translated into technologies for augmenting situational awareness and resilience capabilities across all stages of a weather hazard to reduce the impact of disasters.

News: Trees are natural ACs for cities, if you plant the right ones

By Dialogue Earth on Oct 02, 2025 01:28 pm
Much tree planting in cities today is motivated by their potential to mitigate extreme heat. But there are gaps in the understanding of cooling potential of urban trees and there is great variation in how particular tree species cool a given urban area.

News: Where coasts are most vulnerable to flooding and how to protect them: A high-resolution map

By Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici on Oct 01, 2025 04:19 pm
A new study predicts how flooding may expand with rising sea levels in a specific area, offering actionable guidance for urban planning and coastal resilience. The research identifies where seawater is most likely to pass through gaps in dunes.

News: Unveiling what’s under the hood in AI weather models

By Eos – AGU on Oct 01, 2025 04:18 pm
Artificial intelligence models have improved weather forecasting, but their inner workings are largely opaque. A new approach could make their predictions more interpretable by scientists.

News: Joint effort assesses landslide and tsunami risks in Alaska’s Prince William Sound

By Alaska Beacon on Oct 01, 2025 02:27 pm
In recent years, with drastic loss of Barry Glacier’s slope-supporting ice, there are already periodic [land]slides. A catastrophic collapse of the slope could create a tsunami big enough to send a potentially fatal wave to the town of Whittier.

News: From rain-drenched mountains to Arctic permafrost, Alaska landslides pose hazards

By Alaska Beacon on Oct 01, 2025 02:24 pm
From the Southeast rainforest to the Arctic tundra, warming conditions are creating a variety of Alaska landslide hazards, some of them posing extreme hazards to human safety and others creating expensive problems for important infrastructure.

News: What Hamburg’s tiny island can teach cities about resilience

By ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability on Oct 01, 2025 02:22 pm
Neuwerk (Germany), a small tidal island in the Wadden Sea and part of ICLEI Member City Hamburg, is becoming a valuable example of how remote communities can build resilience to climate change.

News: How climate risks are putting home insurance out of reach

By Yale Environment 360 on Oct 01, 2025 01:03 pm
After years underestimating the risks posed by climate-fueled disasters, the U.S. home insurance industry is in turmoil. In vulnerable areas, rising insurance costs are upending housing markets and communities.

News: 4 key facts about climate change and human migration

By Stanford University on Oct 01, 2025 12:20 pm
How does climate change affect human migration and what does it mean for border policies? Learn about the complex relationship between weather and cross-border migration across different demographic groups, and the role for future policies.

News: Climate change, natural resources, and conflict: Navigating a complex nexus

By VoxDev/ CEPR on Oct 01, 2025 12:18 pm
Extreme weather and the green transition are reshaping global conflict. The authors summarise the evidence on this trend and explore how policy can respond in this article.

News: Classroom heat widens the achievement gap

By VOXEU/ CEPR on Oct 01, 2025 12:14 pm
Children are particularly vulnerable to such environmental stressors. This column uses nationwide exam data from Japanese primary and secondary schools to explore how heat exposure affects student learning.

News: How extreme heat determines diets in rural India

By VoxDev/ CEPR on Oct 01, 2025 12:11 pm
Extreme heat damages crops and increases the number of strongly undernourished households in terms of calories, iron, and other nutrients. While some households cope by buying food grown elsewhere, the poorest remain highly vulnerable.

News: From emergency response to recovery: How Build Back Better is core to disaster management in Chile

By Connecting Business initiative on Sep 30, 2025 03:50 pm
In 2024, wildfires ravaged thousands of hectares of land in Chile and impacted more than 15 thousand dwellings. But within 24 hours, Desafío was on the ground in Viña del Mar, mobilizing hundreds of volunteers and distributing debris removal kits.

News: Fiber optic cables could act as early warning system for geohazards, study finds

By Pennsylvania State University on Sep 30, 2025 03:50 pm
Simple fiber-optic cables that are essential for powering the internet can be a useful tool in spotting geohazards such as sinkholes, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.

News: How do we boost flood resilience in cities? Addressing social vulnerability is key, a new study finds

By European Commission on Sep 30, 2025 03:45 pm
A case study in Barcelona mapped high-risk hotspots for major flood events as climate change increases stormwater frequency. It highlighted social vulnerability as a major factor that must be addressed.

News: Athens reshapes public spaces to reduce perceived temperature

By ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability on Sep 30, 2025 03:39 pm
In summer 2025, targeted interventions across the Greek capital showed that reducing perceived temperatures can be achieved when science, municipal action and citizen engagement work together.

News: Extreme weather events in summer 2025: Europe faces long-term losses of 126 billion euros

By University of Mannheim on Sep 30, 2025 03:31 pm
A study from the University of Mannheim and economists from the European Central Bank shows: The economic consequences are considerable – with estimated losses of 43 billion euros in 2025 alone and a total of 126 billion euros by 2029.

News: World’s major cities hit by a quarter more hot days than in the 1990s

By International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) on Sep 30, 2025 03:15 pm
The world’s major cities now experience a quarter more very hot days per year on average than they did three decades ago, according to new analysis by IIED.

News: ARISE Philippines, SM Prime launch Cebu leg to expand private sector role in mainstreaming resilience and life-saving through CPR

By SM Prime Holdings, Inc. on Sep 30, 2025 12:05 pm
ARISE Philippines, together with SM Prime Holdings, launched the first Hands-Only CPR Training Campaign in Cebu SM Supermalls on September 5–6, 2025, in partnership with the Department of Health–Health Emergency Management Service.

News: Private sector steps up: ARISE Philippines and SM Prime train Cebu managers on disaster management through Incident Command System

By SM Prime Holdings, Inc. on Sep 30, 2025 11:58 am
ARISE Philippines, in partnership with SM Prime Holdings, convened the Incident Command System Executive Course (ICSEC) in Cebu to equip SM mall managers, ARISE Members and nearby area representatives with advanced crisis response skills.