Flood Bot Program Uses Social Media To Alert Ellicott City Residents To Potential Flooding
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) -- Following two 1,000-year flooding events in Ellicott City in just the span of two years, more help has been set up to help residents in case of another major flooding event.
A team from the University of Maryland Baltimore County has developed a rapid flood warning system for the town called Flood Bot.
The program, which got funding from the National Science Foundation, saw a dozen sensors installed in 2019 to detect and monitor water levels in the Patapsco River and other critical flood points close to and around the Old Ellicott City downtown area. Those sensors can send alerts via Twitter if flooding is imminent.
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It can also tweet on its own, helping officials re-route and even close streets that are flooded or are in danger of flooding in real-time.
UMBC is also working with its hardware partner to deploy sensors in flood-prone areas in Michigan and Virginia as well.
