The Harlow Report-GIS
2023 Edition
ISSN 0742-468X
Since 1978
On-line Since 2000
first published week of: 01/30/2023
Flood Forecasts in Real-Time With Block-by-Block Data Could Save Lives – a New Machine Learning Method Makes It Possible
by Valeriy Ivanov
A sophisticated flood model can be used to train local flood hazard models that can pinpoint conditions street by street using real-time storm forecasts.
The extreme flooding and mudslides across California in recent weeks took many drivers by surprise. Sinkholes swallowed cars, highways became fast-moving rivers of water, entire neighborhoods were evacuated. At least 20 people died in the storms, several of them after becoming trapped in cars in rushing water.
As I checked the forecasts on my cellphone weather apps during the weeks of storms in early January 2023, I wondered whether people in the midst of the downpours were using similar technology as they decided whether to leave their homes and determined which routes were safest. Did they feel that it was sufficient?
I am a hydrologist who sometimes works in remote areas, so interpreting weather data and forecast uncertainty is always part of my planning.
Read full story at GCN…