PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Oct. 9 marks exactly one year since Hurricane Milton hit the Tampa Bay area. Several coastal communities felt the impacts of the storm, but so did a lot of inland areas.
Many areas flooded that had never flooded before.
Researchers with the University of South Florida were paying close attention, using their flood monitoring app that uses user-submitted pictures along with AI to help calculate the depth of floodwater in some areas. The app, CRIS-HAZARD, launched right before Helene and Milton hit back-to back.
Barnali Dixon is a professor at USF St. Pete’s School of Geo Sciences. Her team developed the app to be better prepared for storms like the ones last year. They also wanted emergency officials to have their data as a source.
“Different depth of water will require different types of rescue vehicles. So if you know what’s the depth of the water in that area, then you can send the appropriate rescue vehicle,” Dixon said.
The CRIS-HAZARD app uses flood cameras that look a lot like bird feeding boxes, mounted on trees or posts in flood-prone areas, as well as inland areas of Pinellas County. The cameras and the app soft launched two weeks before Helene last year. It allows users to report flooding using pictures and location information.
“If you have a way to tell your neighbors or other people, then they can know how to route themselves. This is what I call Waze for flooding,” Dixon said, referencing the popular traffic app.
Researchers want everyone in Pinellas County to use their app. They said if you want to provide some useful data, use something as a reference like a fire hydrant, to demonstrate just how deep floodwaters are.
Dixon’s research assistant, Micheal Licea, can’t build them fast enough.
“It’s like a decoy low key. It’s not gonna draw a lot of attention. People aren’t going to go messing with it if they think it’s a bird box or something for research,” Licea said.
Dixon and her team launched even more cameras since launching last year.
They started with eight cameras — now they have 31 camera and counting.
“We selected these sites based on collaboration with the flood plain managers,” Dixon said.
After last year’s storm season, having a bird’s-eye view of rising water with the help of CRIS-HAZARD app users — Dixon is hoping the data they collect will be a go-to for those impacted and those looking to mitigate flooding.
Outreach for the flood reporting app is ongoing in underserved communities that are often overlooked, according to Dixon. She is encouraging people living or visiting Pinellas County to download the app since even an afternoon thunderstorm can easily become a flood event.
Saundra Weathers
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