Google Flood Hub
Advanced Flood Hub functionalities for governments and relief agencies
To help those in flood-affected regions, Google is collaborating with international assistance organisations like Give Directly and the International Rescue Committee and launching additional sophisticated tools for flood specialists in Google Flood Hub, such as a basin view and an inundation history map.
Communities throughout the world are being devastated by floods, and many are working to improve AI-driven flood predictions so that detection and response may be done more quickly and effectively. While collaborating with partners to increase coverage for individuals in vulnerable places worldwide, Google Research has spent the last few years concentrating on using Artificial Intelligence modelling and satellite imagery to significantly increase the accuracy of flood forecasts.
Google is launching new, sophisticated tools in Google Flood Hub today that will help professionals understand flood risk in a specific area through maps of inundation history and how a particular flood forecast on Flood Hub could spread over a river basin. Regardless of a current flood occurrence, Google Flood Hub expert users can study high-resolution maps of flood risk zones using the inundation history maps. This is helpful for pre-planning humanitarian efforts or in situations when it flood forecasting does not contain real-time inundation maps. Additional information on the maps of inundation history and other topics is available at the Google Flood Hub Help Centre.
The Flood Hub’s basin view per gauge helps flood specialists find the finest forecast tracking locations, including villages, hospitals, shelters, and more.
Flood specialists from governments, research groups, and humanitarian organisations can benefit more from the latest developments in Google Flood Hub. With additional information accessible on the Flood Hub, for instance, a new layers panel enables users to add and remove various layers from the map, allowing for a better understanding of each layer independently. Comprehensive explanations of the Flood Hub’s capabilities and features, including details on the several flood models displayed there, are available through an improved gauge panel and an updated Help Centre.
How field work is supported by these new tools
Its flood forecasting tools, including the Google Flood Hub, Floods API, and the historical dataset, are made to assist governments, humanitarian organisations, and researchers who can use detailed flood information with a lengthy lead time. The fact that these groups have operational procedures in place to provide preemptive relief and advanced warnings is one of the reasons it is committed to cooperating with them. It witnessed firsthand the results of its efforts in 2024 through Google collaborations with Give Directly and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Bangladesh and Nigeria. Through this partnership, communities are better prepared for future floods and relief organisations may use its technologies in their response.
Assistance for flood relief in Nigeria using AI
It has discussed the results of global collaborations that use AI to plan for floods. Give Directly and the International Rescue Committee received funding from Google.org in June 2024 to help provide 7,500 people in Nigeria with cash support.
IRC operated on the Benue River in eastern Nigeria, while GiveDirectly operated on the Niger River in Kogi State. GiveDirectly received alerts relevant to each town and started financial transfers using the Google Flood API in conjunction with their anticipatory action mechanisms.
Federico Barreras, humanitarian manager at GiveDirectly, says, “We determined the areas most at risk of flooding using Google’s historical data.” “We delivered cash assistance to those most in need ahead of the peak by using the Google Flood API to determine when floods were about to hit our target areas.”
Through this partnership, a first-of-its-kind AI-powered cash relief initiative was created in Africa, allowing monetary help to reach communities in September and October 2024, at least five to seven days before the flood peak in Nigeria. Giving them the money to buy food and save their possessions before a disaster occurs is the aim of advance assistance. In addition to improving readiness, research indicates that being aware of a crisis before it occurs can lower the cost of disaster response.
The IRC is utilising the platform for projects outside of Nigeria, in addition to incorporating the Google Flood API into its trigger logic that enabled financial assistance for 3,000 people in Adamawa State. It is now using this strategy of automating flood anticipatory action in other areas, such Northern Kenya, where there was previously no flood forecast data. However, with AI there are now dozens of reporting points enabling more families to benefit from AI-powered cash relief,” says Miles Murray, Anticipatory Action Specialist with the IRC.
Support in the form of cash transfers for impacted families in Bangladesh
GiveDirectly deployed AI-driven preemptive intervention in Bangladesh, where the Jamuna River region experiences severe annual flooding, using Google’s Flood Hub. Families in high-risk locations received cash transfers prior to this year’s July flood season, which allowed them to protect their property and buy necessities. This strategy demonstrated how AI can help with flood forecasting and directly assist impacted areas. According to Abir Chowdhury, interim country director for Bangladesh at GiveDirectly, “anticipatory action triggers are typically set at the district level in Bangladesh, which covers large areas.” “We tested a more accurate strategy using Google’s AI-powered forecasts to deliver anticipatory cash at the village level to reach the most vulnerable communities prior to floods.”
Considering the future
Google is dedicated to creating new technologies that help flood preparedness, response, and recovery globally as it keeps growing the Google Flood Hub‘s coverage and enhancing its usefulness. Its objective is to enable global organisations to take prompt action and contribute to enhancing local communities’ ability to withstand climate catastrophes.
A free, shareable map of all historical and projected river gauge data is available to government organisations, non-profits, and scholars every day.
