Floods are the most common natural disaster, causing thousands of fatalities and disrupting the lives of millions every year. Since 2018, Google Research has been working on our flood forecasting initiative, which uses advanced AI and geospatial analysis to provide real-time flooding information, to help inform communities and individuals to prepare for and respond to riverine floods. Our real-time flood forecasts and visualizations are available on the Flood Hub platform and, in many cases, also on Search and Maps.

Earlier this year, we expanded Flood Hub coverage to 80 countries, providing forecasts up to seven days in advance for 460 million people across Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and South and Central America. In August for example, Flood Hub was instrumental in providing information to Chile’s local emergency response agency so they could issue evacuation alerts, enable communities to take proactive measures, and minimize the impact of floods.

Today, we’re announcing the expansion of riverine flood forecasts on Flood Hub to the U.S. and Canada, covering more than 800 locations by rivers where more than 12 million people live. With the help of AI, we hope to bring flood forecasting to every country and cover more types of floods, and we’ll continue to collaborate on this with our partners in the community, governments, academia, and organizations like the World Meteorological Organization.