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Technology

Google AI predicts floods four days early in South America and Africa

An artificial intelligence from Google can predict floods even in regions with little data on water flow, and its predictions four days in advance are as accurate as conventional systems manage for the same day

By Alex Wilkins

21 August 2023

Google flood prediction AI - Flood Hub.

Google’s flood prediction AI, Flood Hub

Google

Google’s artificial intelligence flood prediction system can now forecast floods four days in advance in data-poor regions, like South America and Africa, as well as data-rich areas like Europe and the US.

Most of the world’s waterways don’t have accurate measurements for water flow, which makes predicting floods hard. Lower-income countries are disproportionately affected by a lack of data, whereas higher-income countries are more likely to have well-measured rivers and lakes and so more accurate flood predictions.

In 2018, Google introduced an AI-powered flood forecasting system for India and Bangladesh,…

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