A partnership between Google and the Geological Survey of Brazil (SGB), announced in Florianópolis (SC), will make it possible to issue riverside flood alerts in the country. The indicator combines data such as river water levels, meteorological indicators and satellite images. Residents of more than 60 locations will have real-time information available. In the coming months, alerts and forecast coverage is expected to be expanded to other regions.
When navigating Google Maps, performing search queries or accessing the new flood platform FloodHub, users will receive alerts and forecasts on river conditions. The rapid floods, which occur in cities at the headwaters or with the rains in large urban centers, are not part of this system. Information on gradual floods is made available, on which it is possible to send data, for example, how much water should rise in a given period, allowing displacements.
A report by the United Nations Organization shows that Brazilians are among the most exposed to the risk of riverside flooding in the world. Between 2000 and 2019, more than 70 million people were affected by floods in the country.
“We have observed, globally, an increase in the frequency of disasters and critical events due to climate change and, as part of efforts in this field, we have developed products that bring reliable information to people in critical moments to keep them safe before, during and after these events happen,” says Luisa Phebo, leader of Social Impact Partnerships at Google.
The technology is already used in other countries, such as India and Bangladesh, and now, in addition to Brazil, it will be available in Colombia, Sri Lanka and 15 African countries, such as Chad, Nigeria, Republic of Congo and South Africa. In 2021, 115 million flood notifications and alerts were sent to 23 million people in India and Bangladesh.
The Flood Alert System brings together “computing power, machine learning expertise to develop automated flood forecasting and warning systems on a global scale,” Google highlights.
“The advantage of this partnership is to increase the dissemination of the information generated and take advantage of Google’s programming capacity, in order to expand these forecasts to other locations in Brazil in the future”, says Alice Castilho, director of Hydrology at the SGB.
A public company linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, SBG operates Hydrological Alert systems in 17 basins in the Brazilian territory, monitoring rainfall, river levels and maps of hydrological risks. This information is periodically sent to civil defense agencies, state and municipal public agents, in addition to the general population.
“Currently, this information is in the site from the Geological Survey of Brazil, we have the photos, the levels in real time, the bulletins also in real time. The entire population can access it, but, however, it is not so easy for the population, it is not so palatable”, evaluated Artur Matos, coordinator of the SGB Hydrological Alert System.
