Flood mortality in SE Asia: Can palaeo-historical information help save lives?

Asia is one of the world's most flood-prone regions by many metrics: high flood magnitudes, frequency, severity; the number countries affected, the area of inundation; the number of people at risk; and importantly, flood-related fatalities (AIR, 2014; Luo, Maddoks, Iceland,Ward, & Winsemius, 2015; Table 1). With respect to mortality, nearly all the countries with more than 5,000 flood-related deaths since 1985 are from Asia (11 of 13; Table 1; Figure 1). As we write this commentary, flooding associated with tropical storm Nangka has caused more than 40 deaths in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam(Floodlist, 2020).