592 - Connecting Early-Actions with Sub-seasonal to Seasonal Forecasts to Advance Hydrologic Disaster Preparedness

Hydrologic catastrophes account for over half of all climate and weather-related disasters globally, often leading to devastating conditions in communities. Severe drought, flooding, intensification of heavy rainfall events, and the associated damages and socio-economic costs continue to grow and intensify. Humanitarian networks and governmental disaster management agencies are actively pursuing novel approaches to disaster preparedness and relief to reduce casualties, loss of property, and post-disaster relief funds. Early-actions, triggered by hydrologic forecasts at lead times of weeks to months, are one such approach. However, a number of challenges remain as this paradigm emerges. These include effective co-production of plans to reduce disparities between actors; balancing lead times, actions, and model performance; updating early action plans after intervention, acknowledging that the community's vulnerability state may have changed, tailoring communication; and integrating novel financial tools to allow scale up of activities. Initial explorations of these challenges will be outlined accordingly through case studies in Peru.