After the floods of 2025, can we keep 2026 above water?

Devastating floods ravaged aggregate regions of the satellite successful 2025, from Southeast Asia to North America and the Middle East.

We asked clime experts what is causing the devastation and what governments should beryllium doing to forestall the concern from becoming adjacent worse successful the coming year.

Which places were worst deed by floods successful 2025?

“Throughout 2025, a bid of large floods occurred worldwide, making flooding the year’s foremost clime hazard,” Pawan Bhattarai, adjunct prof astatine the civilian engineering section of Nepal’s Kathmandu-based Tribhuvan University, told Al Jazeera.

Here is simply a recap of immoderate of the large floods that took place.

Gaza

Heavy downpours and freezing temperatures continue to ravage Gaza, wherever astir 2 cardinal radical person been displaced during 2 years of Israeli bombardment that has destroyed overmuch of the Strip.

Many radical successful Gaza are surviving successful tents amidst rubble from destroyed homes and are mostly unprotected from the beardown winds and rain.

On Saturday, a polar low-pressure upwind strategy carried peculiarly dense rainfall and beardown winds to the Gaza Strip. According to meteorologist Laith al-Allami, this is the 3rd specified strategy to impact the territory successful the past fewer weeks, with a 4th which deed connected Monday, Anadolu Agency reported.

One of the erstwhile 2 was Storm Byron, which brought dense rainfall and beardown winds to Gaza arsenic good arsenic parts of Israel and the wider eastbound Mediterranean portion earlier this month.

Israel was placed connected precocious alert for that tempest – halting subject leave, reinforcing exigency teams and safeguarding powerfulness supplies. But the UN said 55,000 Palestinian households successful Israel lacking basal services and authorities enactment were near exposed.

At slightest 14 Palestinians successful Gaza were killed successful the storm, and respective were injured. Among the victims was a newborn babe successful al-Mawasi, who succumbed to freezing temperatures.

Morocco

Earlier this month, Morocco launched a nationwide emergency alleviation cognition to enactment radical affected by terrible flooding arsenic the state battled freezing conditions, torrential rains and snowstorms.

Flash floods killed astatine slightest 37 radical and damaged astir 70 homes and shops successful the municipality of Safi, 300km (186 miles) southbound of the capital, Rabat.

Prosecutors are investigating whether shortcomings successful infrastructure, specified arsenic mediocre drainage, played a relation successful the disaster.

Moroccans inspect debris pursuing a flash flood successful the coastal municipality of Safi, 300 km (186 miles) southbound of the capital, Rabat, connected December 15, 2025 [AFP]

Indonesia

Floods deed Indonesia successful December, sidesplitting astatine least 961 people successful Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra. More than 20 villages crossed the ‍three provinces were wholly swept distant by the floods.

Homes, atom fields, dams and bridges were destroyed, leaving galore areas inaccessible.

Illegal logging – often linked to the planetary request for palm oil – on with wood nonaccomplishment owed to mining, plantations and fires, some exacerbated the catastrophe successful Sumatra.

Flooding was besides reported successful neighbouring Malaysia astir the aforesaid time.

Thailand

At slightest 276 radical person been killed successful flooding successful Thailand successful December. The floods severely affected 8 provinces successful the cardinal plains, 4 successful the southbound and 2 successful the north, according to the Thai Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Sri Lanka

In precocious November, floods and landslides killed astatine slightest 56 radical arsenic Cyclone Ditwah, a deadly tropical storm, swept crossed Sri Lanka.

The dense downpour which accompanied the tempest destroyed 4 houses and damaged much than 600. It besides caused trees and mud to autumn and artifact aggregate roads and railway lines.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who took bureau successful September 2024, inherited achy austerity measures imposed by his predecessor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, arsenic portion of a bailout indebtedness bundle from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), hampering rescue efforts.

“The tempest poses a important situation to the authorities that is conscionable opening to code the societal and economical concerns of the people,” Ahilan Kadirgamar, a elder lecturer astatine the section of sociology, University of Jaffna successful Sri Lanka, told Al Jazeera successful November.

Nepal

In October, severe floods and landslides deed parts of Nepal and India’s eastbound Himalayan metropolis of Darjeeling, sidesplitting astatine slightest 50 people.

This year’s rainfall was not record-breaking – overall, determination was really somewhat little rainfall than successful 2024, erstwhile the Kathmandu Valley saw its heaviest downpour since 2002. In the superior Kathmandu, immoderate districts received conscionable much than 145 mm of rainfall this year, compared with astir 240 mm successful precocious September 2024.

Damage was severe, however, due to the fact that of “ultra-localised”, dense rains.

The floods came 1 period aft Nepal’s “Gen Z” protests successful Kathmandu and different cities against corruption and nepotism. The protests prompted the deployment of the subject and, ultimately, the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his replacement by erstwhile Chief Justice Sushila Karki, 73, arsenic interim PM.

While experts praised Karki for her interim government’s punctual aboriginal upwind warnings earlier the flooding, wide harm to captious infrastructure during the protests hindered rebuilding and alleviation operations.

“To forestall aboriginal disasters, a large displacement successful argumentation and signifier is urgently needed. This indispensable prioritise broad watershed management, focusing connected stabilising slopes and managing h2o run-off, which has been a persistently neglected country successful our existent attack to catastrophe hazard reduction,” Bhattarai, the engineering professor, told Al Jazeera astatine the time.

Mexico

In October, floods deed Mexico, sidesplitting astatine slightest 66 people. Tropical storms caused flooding successful five states successful the country: Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi.

More than 16,000 homes astir the state were damaged.

Pakistan

Between June and August, respective regions of Pakistan experienced flooding triggered by torrential rains. More than 700 radical were killed astir the country.

Floods devastated the Buner territory successful the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and the confederate metropolis of Karachi besides suffered large flooding caused by high-intensity rains implicit a abbreviated play of time.

Rainfall continued successful Pakistan and neighbouring countries until late August, and floods prompted the evacuation of 500,000 radical successful the Punjab province.

On August 31, a magnitude-6 earthquake hit Afghanistan adjacent its borderline with Pakistan, sidesplitting much than 1,400 people, according to the government. Efforts to rescue radical affected by the earthquake were hindered due to the fact that flash floods had affected the Nangarhar state of Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

United States

As of past week, much than 40 cardinal Americans had been placed nether wintertime tempest warnings oregon upwind advisories. Another 30 cardinal person been alerted to flood oregon tempest advisories successful California, wherever a alleged “atmospheric river” has brought a deluge of rain.

An atmospheric stream is simply a long, constrictive set of aerial successful the ambiance that carries ample amounts of h2o vapour.

Last week, thousands of flights successful the US were cancelled due to the fact that of winter tempest Devin, which caused blizzards successful the Midwest and northeast and dense snowfall forecasts crossed parts of some regions.

Earlier successful the year, respective US states, including Texas, West Virginia, New Mexico and New Jersey, were deed by flash floods – abrupt and accelerated flooding of low-lying areas – successful July.

These floods were mostly caused by dense rainfall implicit a abbreviated play of time.

Flash floods successful Texas killed much than 100 people successful July 2025. Within 2 hours of flooding, the Guadalupe River breached its banks, with waters rising higher than two-storey buildings to astir 9 metres (30ft).

Twenty-five girls and 2 counsellors were killed, and different radical went missing erstwhile the floods deed the riverside Camp Mystic, a backstage Christian summertime campy for girls.

The stream has antecedently experienced large floods successful 1936, 1952, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1987, 1991 and 1997, according to a usher prepared by the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, a Texas authorities bureau dedicated to conserving the h2o resources of the stream basin.

The 1987 deluge was peculiarly disastrous and besides deed a summertime camp, sidesplitting 10 teenagers astatine the Pot O’ Gold Christian Camp adjacent Comfort, Texas, according to section media. But the National Weather Service (NWS) said successful July this year, the Guadalupe River rose beyond 1987 levels.

So, were the 2025 floods worse than successful erstwhile years?

In immoderate places, yes.

In the US, for example, flooding does look to person worsened steadily for the past fewer years. The play betwixt January and September 2025 saw the highest fig of flood and flash flood events and the highest fig of associated quality casualties successful 5 years, Nasir Gharaibeh, a civilian and biology engineering prof astatine Texas A&M University, told Al Jazeera.

From January to September, determination were 7,074 floods successful the US, which caused 242 deaths, according to the Storm Events Database, which is managed by the US National Weather Service (NWS) of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

For the aforesaid play past year, determination were 6,551 floods, which resulted successful 151 deaths. In 2023, determination were 5,783 floods, which caused 93 deaths for the aforesaid period. In 2022, 4,548 floods caused 102 deaths.

However, experts said that successful different regions successful the world, 2025 was not overmuch worse than erstwhile years.

“There person been arsenic melodramatic years successful South Asia and East Asia,” Daanish Mustafa, a prof successful captious geography astatine King’s College, London, told Al Jazeera.

“Nowhere did I perceive that immoderate flood travel grounds was broken. It’s conscionable that flood plains were much urbanised, rivers much regulated, wherever the regulatory infrastructure failed, arsenic successful Sri Lanka and India,” said Mustafa.

Why were floods truthful terrible successful 2025?

Flooding was worsened by a assortment of factors successful 2025, experts told america passim the year. “Flooding is simply a analyzable hazard. It occurs due to the fact that of interactions betwixt galore variables related to weather, infrastructure, onshore screen and topography and different factors,” Gharaibeh said.

Climate alteration is simply a large origin successful causing upwind events, researchers say. “The circumstantial triggers varied from metropolis to metropolis successful 2025, yet a single, cosmopolitan unit magnified them all: Climate change, which supercharges rainfall extremes,” said Bhattarai.

Climate alteration is causing monsoon rains to intensify, for example, resulting successful much predominant utmost precipitation events. This is due to the fact that rising temperatures origin the ambiance to clasp much moisture, starring to heavier downpours during storms.

In bluish Pakistan, these higher temperatures are besides accelerating glacial melting, which increases the likelihood of glacial water outburst floods (GLOFs).

Furthermore, Abdullah Ansari, a probe prof astatine the Earthquake Monitoring Center astatine Sultan Qaboos University successful Muscat, Oman, told Al Jazeera, “research has shown that seasonal rains and upwind conditions tin intensify earthquake-induced vulnerabilities by triggering landslides, damaging entree routes and disrupting connection lines.”

“The twelvemonth was further distinguished by antithetic patterns, including late-season monsoon floods, uncommon cyclonic activity, and utmost rainfall successful regions not traditionally prone to flooding,” Bhattarai said.

But clime alteration is not the afloat story.

“This planetary operator met a section vulnerability: Urban landscapes fundamentally unequipped for the caller reality. The effect was a surge successful flash floods – wherever overwhelming h2o meets inflexible plan – turning abrupt downpours into city-wide disasters,” Bhattarai said.

“While clime alteration plays a captious relation successful intensifying flooding events successful Pakistan, different factors specified arsenic urbanisation, deforestation, inadequate infrastructure, and mediocre stream absorption besides lend significantly,” Ayyoob Sharifi, a prof and municipality idiosyncratic astatine Hiroshima University successful Japan, told Al Jazeera successful August.

Additionally, a deficiency of capable drainage systems and aboriginal informing systems tin exacerbate the effects of flooding.

A emergence successful the fig of flash floods has besides caused greater damage.

“In the US, we are seeing a higher fig of flood-related casualties, successful portion owed to an summation successful rainfall-induced flash flooding,” Gharaibeh told Al Jazeera.

“Flash floods often hap with small warning, and the flood h2o flows with precocious velocities and destructive force, making them among the astir unsafe earthy hazards,” helium added, explaining that the level of information is measured by the ratio of deaths to radical affected.

Overall, Bhattarai described the catastrophic flooding of 2025 arsenic “a collision of aggravated meteorological events and semipermanent quality decisions”.

“On the upwind side, the superior drivers person been cloudbursts and stalled rainfall systems. These phenomena present short-duration, high-intensity rainfall, resulting successful grounds regular rainfall totals that overwhelm drainage systems successful a substance of hours.”

But quality improvement has dramatically amplified the harm caused by floods, helium said.

“Decades of stream encroachment and floodplains converted into municipality onshore person eliminated nature’s information buffers. Rivers, present constricted and incapable to dispersed out, surge with greater unit and velocity into populated areas that were erstwhile earthy absorption zones.

“Essentially, we person built cities successful the way of the h2o and past removed each its flight routes, turning dense rainfall into disastrous floods.”

How tin we amended flood responses successful future?

Experts accidental governments volition person to accommodate to caller upwind patterns, which are resulting successful much predominant and aggravated rainfall and flooding – and volition person to alteration their attack to surviving floods.

Mustafa said: “Societies are continuing connected their way of trying to combat floods, modulate rivers and physique obstructive infrastructure successful flood plains. All of these efforts person ever failed and caused demolition and ever will. But I fearfulness the societies volition proceed apace.

“Don’t effort to combat floods; larn to unrecorded with them. Don’t effort to power and restrict stream flows, springiness rivers country to flow,” helium advised.

“Societies tin and person engineered distant high-frequency, low-intensity events. But successful the process, they’ve made low-frequency, high-intensity events overmuch worse. And this is peculiarly destructive successful the clime alteration present, wherever each of your humanities patterns, which are the ground of infrastructural design, are meaningless.”

Mustafa explained that infrastructure specified arsenic dams, levees and barrages are built to grip floods of a definite size and frequency.

He explained that these are built for 100-, 500- oregon 1,000-year events, meaning events with 1 percent, 0.5 percent oregon 0.1 percent accidental of recurrence successful immoderate fixed year, respectively. He added that astir infrastructure is designed for 100-year events.

Engineers usage records of earthy disasters to physique this infrastructure.

“Assumption is that humanities trends volition proceed into the future. With clime change, that presumption doesn’t hold,” Mustafa said.

Bhattarai said the 2025 floods underscored the request for faster, community-focused responses with wide section warnings, stronger coordination, urban-specific plans, extortion of susceptible groups and safer rebuilding that reduces aboriginal flood risks.

Gharaibeh said due solutions volition vary, depending connected which portion of the satellite is experiencing the flooding.

“Some parts of the satellite should commencement investing successful their flood power infrastructure, including roadway systems, wherever roads are utilized arsenic ‘drainage channels’. Other parts of the satellite should put successful gathering amended informing systems.”

Gharaibeh explained that since backing is usually limited, controlling floods requires prioritisation of investment.

“Countries similar the United States and Japan, for example, person built – and proceed to physique – robust flood power infrastructure due to the fact that they person a agelong past of flooding issues.”

Even so, caller flash flood events, specified arsenic the flood that affected Texas successful 2025, bespeak that countries similar the US should put much successful gathering amended informing systems.

“On the different hand, Middle Eastern countries, for example, look to deficiency the indispensable infrastructure to power flooding. These countries should commencement investing successful their flood power infrastructure.”