FloodNavigator

Our mission is to improve mobility, safety, and economic resilience in flood-prone regions by disseminating real-time, crowdsourced data about flooding.

Overview

FloodNavigator is a community-driven platform for sharing and viewing real-time flood conditions. Initially developed for Accra, Ghana, where flooding is a daily problem, FloodNavigator empowers users to make safer decisions.  Unlike typical flood alert systems that rely solely on sensors or predictive modeling, FloodNavigator blends low-bandwidth technology with deep community engagement to build a trustworthy, hyperlocal information ecosystem. Our advantage lies in our grassroots approach to system design, adoption, and sustainability. The design prioritizes simplicity, accessibility, and reliability—qualities Accra residents identified during participatory design workshops as essential for a tool that helps them navigate nuisance floods.

Motivation

Urban flooding is a critical issue in cities across emerging economies, where rapid urbanization, insufficient infrastructure, and the growing impacts of climate change have made flooding both frequent and devastating. Cities such as Accra, Ghana, exemplify this challenge. Floods disrupt daily life, endanger citizens, and cause significant economic losses. The core problem is the lack of a real-time, reliable system for civilians and businesses to track and respond to urban flooding in these regions.

Currently, in cities like Accra, people rely primarily on word-of-mouth or direct observation to learn about flooded areas. This inefficient system delays critical decisions that could protect lives, homes, and businesses. Without real-time information on flood conditions, people are left to navigate blindly, leading to:

• Dangerous Travel Conditions
  • Residents and commuters often encounter impassable roads and flooded streets during heavy rains, which pose serious risks to safety and cause significant delays. Accidents and injuries are common as people attempt to travel through unsafe areas without reliable information.
• Inadequate Preparation
  • Residents in flood-prone areas often receive no timely warnings, leaving them little time to prepare their homes and belongings. Without reliable alerts, they are forced to act reactively, leading to increased property damage and loss of personal possessions.
• Business Disruptions
  • For businesses, the inability to predict which areas will flood or remain safe hampers logistics, disrupts supply chains, and puts employees at risk. The lack of accurate flood data results in economic losses that could be mitigated with better information. Mobility-constraints due to climatic conditions have a number of consequences, including reducing access to work places, markets and services.