By Patrick Tomasso / Unsplash
New York plans to significantly expand its flood monitoring network in order to better anticipate potential episodes of flooding. This decision comes after several violent and deadly storms have wreaked havoc on the East Coast of the United States in recent years.
New York plans to significantly expand its flood monitoring network in order to better anticipate potential episodes of flooding. This decision comes after several violent and deadly storms have wreaked havoc on the East Coast of the United States in recent years.
The name given to this network isFloodNet. Thanks to a brand new grant, it can now be extended to cover the whole city, with an increase 500 sites at risk of flooding under surveillance from a previous total of 31. The surveillance system consists of measuring rainfall and flood levels at a precise spot thanks to a sensor that is active 24 hours a day. Note that the sensors are all solar powered.
The data is available online, via a free-to-use dashboard, accessible from any web browser. It displays the data collected by the sensors in place and allows authorities, as well as inhabitants, to monitor threats of flooding in real time order to be able to take action accordingly.
Meanwhile, the body of historical data provides a better understanding of the frequency and magnitude of flooding events, as well as the locations most frequently affected. In 2021, during storm Ida, the tool was particularly busy. For example, the sensors recorded over three feet of flooding at the intersection of Carroll Street and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, with the water rising rapidly and peaking in just 20 minutes. This type of information can be invaluable in the event of a new alert.
FloodNet was launched in 2020 by a group of researchers from New York University, City University of New York, Brooklyn College, and the Science and Resilience Institute in partnership with the Department of Climate and Environmental Justice and the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications Development. Its expansion is expected to begin in February.
