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Can technology help us fight flooding in cities?

Can technology help us fight flooding in cities?

The Climate Question vor 5 Monaten

Extreme weather can devastate informal urban settlements. Can drones and AI help?

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With more and more people moving to cities, informal settlements
are expected to grow. When floods hit these unplanned places, it
can be disastrous, as we often don’t know much about them.
Crucial questions often remain difficult to answer, like how many
people live there, what are the buildings made of, and could they
withstand a flood?

In the township of Alexandra in Johannesburg, the BBC’s Nomsa
Maseko visits a project using drones and artificial intelligence
to help authorities prevent the worst impacts of flooding. And in
Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil, we hear how an innovative
digital map helped the emergency response – and will soon be
available to all for free across the world.

This programme was first broadcast in 2024. You can email us at
theclimatequestion@bbc.com

Guests: Rodrigo Rocha, Partner at the Responsive Cities
Institute, Porto Alegre Dr Caroline Gevaert, Associate Professor
at the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and
Earth Observation, University of Twente Nomsa Maseko, the BBC’s
South Africa Correspondent

Presenter: Jordan Dunbar Producer: Osman Iqbal Researcher:
Octavia Woodward Sound mix: Tom Brignell Editors: Sophie Eastaugh
and Simon Watts

Image: Reuters