Google will warn up to 7 days before a disaster
Google has developed a technology that can predict an upcoming flood 7 days in advance. For many people, such information may be worth its weight in gold.
Google boasted of its achievement in the scientific journal Nature, so the company's assurances can be believed. Thanks to artificial intelligence, it is possible to detect floods, the most common natural disaster, up to 7 days in advance.
Google detects flood
Floods are very difficult to predict because most rivers do not have flow indicators. Therefore, Google used a machine learning system that was fed with a lot of data, including historical information, river level readings, as well as elevation and terrain. As a result, special maps were created on which hundreds of thousands of simulations were carried out.
In this way, the company created very accurate models for specific locations. Google hopes that this will solve the problem in many places around the world. The system can already predict floods in 80 countries, in areas inhabited by 460 million people. Although in the best scenario the disaster was detected 7 days earlier, the average is about 5 days. This is still very valuable information for many people who can prepare appropriately.
The company made its forecasts available on Google Search, Google Maps, and even via Android notifications. Additionally, they are also available on the Flood Hub web app. The creators of the system assure that they do not intend to stop there and the mechanism is to be constantly improved, including new locations.
