Transcript:
When a storm approaches, weather forecasters can tell people how much rain to expect and warn them if there’s a risk of floods.
But knowing where flooding is most likely to happen could help people better prepare – especially as climate change brings more extreme weather.
So one researcher is creating a more advanced flood forecasting system for the coastal city of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Santiago-Collazo: “It will tell you, ‘Well, since you’re gonna have three to five inches falling in this place, more than likely this street that you tend to pass by is gonna be flooded from this time to this time.’”
To build this system, Felix Santiago-Collazo of the University of Georgia and his colleagues are gathering information about historic flood patterns from San Juan residents.
Santiago-Collazo: “That local knowledge component is crucial for this type of hyperlocal flood modeling. So … having their input and telling us … when it tends to flood, how bad, where the water goes.”
And they’re deploying an array of inexpensive, solar-powered flood sensors on stop signs, electricity poles, and other locations across the city to track which areas are flooded during storms.
By better understanding how high water affects different parts of the city, the researchers aim to provide more detailed forecasts of future floods.
Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media
