As floods wreak havoc every year in India and Bangladesh, Google is now expanding its Artificial Intelligence-powered flood forecasting to provide greater details on timing and water depths in its alerts.
Google’s new forecasting tool will provide more notice to the governments and help millions of flood-prone people an extra day to prepare, and shift to safer highlands.
The Google Flood Forecasting Initiative has been working to develop systems that predict when and where flooding will occur—and keep people safe and informed.
The Google Flood Forecasting is now available in nine new local languages, and the team is optimistic that about 20 crore people across 250,000 square kms will now be benefitted.
While more than 50 percent of Bangladesh is prone to annual floods, Assam, Bihar and Odisha are hit by floods every year.
The tech giant is now working in close partnership with the Central Water Commission, and till now, Google has sent out around 30 million notifications to people in flood-affected areas in India.
“In June, just in time for the monsoon season, we reached an important milestone: our systems now extend to the whole of India, with Google technology being used to improve the targeting of every alert the government sends,” the company said in a blog post.
In addition to the Central Water Commission, Google has also partnered with the Bangladesh Water Development Board for warnings and services in Bangladesh.
In addition to improving its alerts, Google.org has started a collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Google also plans to build local networks that can get disaster alert information to people.