Sea level rise in an increasing threat to coastal communities, where two-thirds of the population in the United States resides. The resulting tidal flooding often blocks roads and destroys cars and personal property. Rising Tide originated in Norfolk, Virginia, where an above-average tide can cause the loss of a dozen vehicles, the crippling of electrical infrastructure, and an inability to access essential resources. Natives there know where to park, and what routes to take to avoid the water; they have generators to protect against the inevitable loss of power and are stocked with resources in the event that all transportation has been restricted. However, it takes years to learn these skills and adapt to the 21st century water-world. For newcomers, the military and college students who don’t have this knowledge, they can find their parked cars flooded out or personal property destroyed, or they may inadvertently drive through flooded which should be avoided.
With the Rising Tide mobile application, a user can be alerted of current and future flood waters, in order to optimize potential flood routes and reduce travel time, and can send push notifications when future flooding is likely (up to twelve hours in advance) so they can move a parked car in advance of a flood event. Rising Tide is a coastal citizen’s guide to adapting to life in the era of rising water.
In order to notify users of flood risk, Rising Tide asks a user to save a location (or several) on the application’s simple user interface for which they will receive flood information. Based on these data points, a user is able to receive notifications of current or pending flooding. The notifications can include flood water height and start/end times. The data used to provide these notifications is sourced from Google elevation API and NOAA tidal gauges.
Rising Tide saves all flooding history and can be accessed by cities and organizations in order to prioritize spending on flooding infrastructure. It is a hub for information that it manipulates and presents it in an easy-to-read form that an average user can interpret. Tidal and River gauges of other countries can also be easily implemented, in order to expand its utility world-wide.
