Fri, 5 May 17

Mexico and the United Kingdom have a model for flood prediction

Loughborough, Leics. (9th June 2017) – Loughborough University is proud to announce it has been given a £1.700,000 grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. These funds will support the research into the Emergency Water Information Network (EWIN).

Floods in Morelia, Mexico, 2013. Photo: Government of Michoacán

Teams from the UK and Mexico are working on ways to monitor flooding using phone systems. Minutes of warning are important and modern flood warning systems are critical for a country to protect its people and develop and grow its towns and cities. Flooding is the most severe of natural disasters humanity has to cope with concerning the loss of life, and the long-term effects of flooding have severely adverse social consequences. Unlike the UK that has a good flood defense system, many countries have not been able to afford the technology and have an inadequate response to flooding. However, many developing countries do now have access to modern cellular phone networks in their towns and cities. So in this project, we will discover how to use mobile phone networks combined with WiFi to help countries tackle flood risk.

“Floods are unstoppable so giving people time to get away is critical.

Assisting developing countries to spot the signs using their phone networks will make a big difference to who are at flood risk.”