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Assessing flood risk and vulnerability: York U expert available

Posted on 29 April 2019

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Assessing flood risk and vulnerability: York U expert available

By Staff

April 29, 2019

1:14 pm

 TORONTO, April 29, 2019─ Ontario’s cottage country, especially the Town of Bracebridge, has experienced record-high floodwaters over the past few days and authorities are continuing to be on high alert with more rain expected in the forecast later this week.  Health authorities there have advised residents whose well water has been affected to use bottled water instead. The City of Ottawa also continues to watch for peak levels which could happen as early as tomorrow or Wednesday with some areas expecting higher levels than records set in 2017.

Usman Khan is assistant professor in Civil Engineering at the Lassonde School of Engineering, York University. His research interests lie in water resources engineering, focusing on urban hydrology, including flood risk assessment and uncertainty analysis, sustainable water resource management and infrastructure, and the impacts of climate change on these systems. His research contributions include designing new big-data based techniques to improve water quality and quantity analysis in urban areas. In addition, Khan has worked with municipal governments, providing his expertise to a number of stormwater, watershed management and urban hydrology projects.

He can speak to:

  • How to improve existing stormwater infrastructure to reduce the risk of floods in the future
  • How data analytics and modelling tools can be used to better highlight the risk of floods in urban areas
  • Why it is important to consider the flood exposure and vulnerability along with flood hazard to assess flood risk identification

York University champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. York students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. York U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, York is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

York U’s fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario’s Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact:

Anjum Nayyar, York University Media Relations, 416-736-2100 ext. 44543, anayyar@yorku.ca

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