KJZZ Central Avenue in Phoenix.

As floods in Baton Rouge remind us, weather and climate can have devastating impacts on our cities.

To try to mitigate those effects, a group of scientists from 17 institutions around the U.S. and Latin America are trying to figure out ways to build more resilient infrastructure.

The effort is focusing on 10 cities, six of which are in the U.S, including Phoenix.

Chuck Redman is the founding director of ASU’s School of Sustainability, and the co-director of the Urban Resilience Sustainability Research Network.