A rise in sea level, combined with increasingly severe weather events, is likely to make flooding events commonplace worldwide. The Climate Change 2001 Synthesis Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (8) suggests that the average annual numbers of persons affected by coastal storm surges will increase from <50 million at present sea levels to ≈250 million by the 2080s, assuming a 40-cm rise in sea level. Even with enhanced protection through engineering interventions, this number is anticipated to reach ≈100 million persons. The initial proportion of deaths from these events is huge, but without extreme vigilance and better monitoring and response, major epidemic waterborne diseases will continue to occur. Factors that promote waterborne diseaseovercrowding, lack of sanitation, lack of clean water, certain domestic animal practices, waste disposal-are exacerbated by flooding.