New UN tool maps floods since 1985 to street level, will aid disaster planning, especially in Global South

Abstract

Developed by UN University with Google and other partners, free online World Flood Mapping Tool will help plan urban and agricultural development, effective flood defences, disaster readiness, identify supply chain vulnerabilities.

Content

UN University-led experts have debuted a new tool that generates instant, accurate street-level resolution maps of floods worldwide since 1985. The free online World Flood Mapping Tool will help all countries but especially those in the Global South, where flood risk maps are rare and often badly out of date.

Created by the UN University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health in Hamilton, Canada, with support from Google, MapBox and other partners listed below, the tool lets users adjust variables to help locate gaps in flood defences and responses, and to plan future development of all kinds — for example, where to build or upgrade infrastructure, or develop agriculture.

Simple to use, the tool, requires only Internet access to obtain a flood map at 30-meter resolution — street by street level. An upcoming version for more commercial uses, for example by insurance firms, will offer even more precise building-level resolution.

Sources:

United Nations University

https://inweh.unu.edu/new-un-tool-maps-floods-since-1985-to-street-level-will-aid-disaster-planning-especially-in-global-south/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-un-tool-maps-floods-since-1985-to-street-level-will-aid-disaster-planning-especially-in-global-south.

Provided by the IKCEST Disaster Risk Reduction Knowledge Service System