Local insurtech FloodMapp says it granted access to live maps of Florida, Georgia and South and North Carolina during Hurricane Idalia to provide US emergency managers with real-time flood data as they responded to the emergency. 

Idalia made landfall on August 30 as a Category 3 storm on Florida’s Big Bend coast, bringing destructive winds, catastrophic storm surge of up to 4.88 metres, and flash flooding from heavy rainfall up to 30.48cm. 

FloodMapp says its NowCast product captured the Hurricane’s flood extent in real-time, using crowd-sourced images and video footage as a geo-reference. 

“Emergency managers and their teams were granted temporary open access to our interactive NowCast model to see the live impacts of Hurricane Idalia and its associated flooding, providing complete situational awareness for better informed response,” FloodMapp GIS Solutions Specialist Mitchell Damrow said. 

FloodMapp says most emergency management agencies rely on static flood studies primarily designed for planning and construction, not disaster response. Its real-time modelling was purpose-built by flood engineers, hydrology experts and data scientists for emergency management. 

It simulates coastal, riverine and pluvial flooding. Products include ForeCast, NowCast and PostCast. 

In March, Brisbane-based FloodMapp was awarded a contract under which US emergency management is to make use of its dynamic flood inundation analytics to create a common operational picture for its National Flood Insurance Program.