Heather J. Murdock

We urgently need improved warning systems and cross-border cooperation to use existing tools to prevent damage and save lives.

Gauge data: water.noaa.gov/gauges/COMT2
Paper on Warning and July 2021 Flood: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Difference between water levels during flood on left and dry conditions on the right at a bridge crossing the Guadalupe River in Texas.

It is important that people receive a warning on time and that they know what to do.

The fourth anniversary of the July 2021 Western Europe floods is next week and there are unfortunately clear parallels.

Photo credit: x.com/Clint_wx

As reports come in on the devastating floods in Kerr County Texas, it's clear that for many people there was insufficient warning.

For flash flood events we know that warnings based on forecasts - not just direct measurement - are crucial. In this case the water levels rose around 6m in 2 hours.

PhD students in STEM: Nature wants to hear from you Buried in lab work or drowning in data? Take a break and help shape the future of PhD education.

📣Calling all #PhD students everywhere in all #STEM fields, please take our @nature.com 2025 Survey (in 15 min or less)!

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www.nature.com/articles/d41...

We want to hear from you about EGU25!!

Thank you so much for joining us at #EGU25 - we are very keen to collect as much feedback as possible from you about every aspect of the meeting, so please fill out the #EGU25 Feedback Survey: www.egu25.eu/feedback

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the EGU photo competition 2025!
Congratulations ✨ 🙌 !

Thank you again for your vote 🙏 !

🔗 Read more here: egu.eu/5XN995

meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/EGU25-...

I had the opportunity to present work on flood early warning and response in Belgium and Germany today at #EGU25 Thanks to who came by for the engaging discussions! @egu.eu @georisks.bsky.social

@egu.eu @unipotsdam.bsky.social @unipotsdamwater.bsky.social @georisks.bsky.social @geowpotsdam.bsky.social

The 2025 Plinius Medal is awarded to Prof. Thieken in recognition of outstanding contributions to the understanding and mitigation of flood risk, and the design of adaptation management strategies informed by the involvement of affected communities.

Annegret Thieken receiving Plinius Medal at EGU

Annegret Thieken presenting Plinius Medal Lecture at EGU25

Congratulations to Prof. Annegret Thieken for receiving the 2025 Plinius Medal today at #EGU25 !

@unipotsdamwater.bsky.social @geowpotsdam.bsky.social

🌊Looking forward to attending EGU next week along with several colleagues and presenting recent research on flood early warning ⚠️#EGU @egu.eu #FEWS

Here is a higher resolution version of poster and the paper is available open source here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Pleased to report that the Tag der Hydrologie conference was productive and enjoyable with interesting presentations and (bilingual) exchange on recent research. 📃 Reconnecting with colleagues and former project partners was also a highlight! #floodrisk #earlywarning #augsburg

In Augsburg this week for the German Hydrology Conference 🌧️ Curious to see how my first German (language) conference goes!

@natriskchange.bsky.social @unipotsdamwater.bsky.social @unipotsdam.bsky.social

Does Warning Performance Vary Between Administrative Districts and Across Watersheds for Rapid Onset Flood Events? A Case Study of the 2021 Flood in Germany In July 2021, a flash flood event affected hilly watersheds in Western Germany and neighbouring countries. Many people reported being surprised by the event and in Germany, there were 190 fatalities ....

📢 New Insights into Flood Early Warning Performance at the district level and within watersheds during the devastating July 2021 floods in Western Germany from myself, @annaheidenreich.bsky.social & Annegret Thieken
Available now:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
#FEWS #Flood #EarlyWarning

Interested in how we can increase flood literacy and help students better understand different stakeholder views in a classroom setting?

Have a look at the conference paper I co-authored on a Serious Game on Flood Resilience in Canada.

ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/PC...

Interested in how we can improve Governance and Crisis Communication for floods in Germany with lessons learned from the 2021 event?

Have a look at the final report on which came out of the BMBF funded HoWas21 Project that I was part of. (In German)

dkkv.org/wp-content/u...

Assessment of Critical Infrastructure Resilience to Flooding Using a Response Curve Approach Following a flood the functioning of critical infrastructure (CI), such as power and transportation networks, plays an important role in recovery and the resilience of the city. Previous research inve...

To start this Blue Sky chapter I thought I would post some past publications with summaries.

Interested in methods to quantify the resilience of critical infrastructure to flooding? Have a look at this publication that came out of my MSc thesis:

www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10...