New York City’s first flood-monitoring network is set to expand. Thanks to $7.2 million in funding from the city, the number of flood-prone areas FloodNet monitors with its sensors will increase from 31 to 500 across all five boroughs. The expansion is expected to start next month and take up to five years.
Data from the sensors is fed into a free web dashboard that residents, city agencies, researchers and anyone else can use to stay on top of and react to flood threats. The dashboard receives water-level readings from the sensors in real time. An interactive map shows where, when and how rapidly water is rising, whether that's due to seawater surges at the coast or stormwater drains not being able to handle floods. The dashboard also includes historical data, which can help people to track the frequency and severity of floods over time.