How Floodi works
Floodi is a real-time flood intelligence platform for Florida. It combines official government data with community-submitted street-level observations so anyone — a resident, a property operator, or a county emergency management team — can see what's actually happening on specific roads during a flood event.
Three layers of flood data
Official alerts — NWS
Flood watches, warnings, and advisories from the National Weather Service are pulled from api.weather.gov every 15 minutes and drawn on the map exactly as published by the federal government. Floodi does not modify alert geometry, severity, or expiration time.
Read the methodology →Stream gauges — USGS
Real-time water level readings from USGS gauge stations are displayed on the map when a gauge reaches or exceeds its official action stage. Stage levels (action, minor, moderate, major) are set by NWS and USGS — Floodi never adjusts them.
Data sources →Community reports
Anyone in Florida can submit a street-level flood report in under 30 seconds — no account required. Reports include location, severity, an optional photo, and an optional comment. They appear on the map within seconds and go through a multi-stage verification pipeline.
Verification pipeline →How community reports are verified
Floodi uses a multi-stage pipeline to keep community data trustworthy without requiring a human reviewer for every submission.
All submitted photos are analyzed by Gemini Vision before becoming public. Only confirmed flood-condition images are approved. The AI also classifies severity (minor / moderate / severe / unknown).
Other users can confirm or dispute any report. Three dispute votes automatically downgrade a report to 'clearing' and de-emphasize it on the map. Two 'cleared' marks transition a report to 'likely cleared'.
If a report's coordinates fall inside an active NWS flood warning polygon at the time of submission, it receives an NWS-confirmed badge — a second federal data signal on that specific observation.
Reports still active after 6 hours automatically transition to 'likely cleared.' Floodi does not maintain stale reports on the map beyond the plausible duration of street-level flooding.
Accounts are capped at 5 reports per hour at the database level. A single flag immediately hides the photo; 3 unique flags hide the report pending admin review.
GPS coordinates and EXIF metadata are stripped from all uploaded photos on ingest — protecting reporter privacy while preserving the image content for verification.
For full technical detail on each verification stage, see the Methodology page.
What the public feed contains — and what it doesn't
Floodi's public map and API expose only public-safe fields. Private reporter information is never part of the public data.
Public feed includes
- Report coordinates (lat/lng) and severity level
- Street name, city, county (user-provided text)
- Timestamp and report age
- Verification status (NWS-confirmed badge, vote count, confirm/dispute count)
- Road-impact flags (impassable, partial, cleared)
- Approved photo (EXIF-stripped)
Public feed never includes
- Reporter email, phone, or identity
- User IDs or account data
- Photo GPS / EXIF metadata (stripped on ingest)
- Admin moderation notes
- Unapproved or flagged photos
- Contact details from pilot partners or government agencies
For emergency management and government agencies
Floodi is designed as a supplemental layer for county and city emergency management operations — not a replacement for WebEOC, FloridaDisaster.org, or official alert systems.
Complements WebEOC
Community reports provide the street-level ground-truth layer that typically lags 30–90 minutes behind sensor data and WebEOC entries.
Integrates with ArcGIS
Report coordinates, NWS polygons, and FEMA flood zone geometry are accessible via the public API for import into ArcGIS or any GIS platform.
After-action export
Download a timestamped report log for any storm window — usable for AAR briefings, FEMA grant documentation, or planning records.
Embeddable map widget
Embed the Floodi live map on your county's public emergency portal or internal dashboard. No login required for public view.
Frequently asked questions
How does Floodi know where it's flooding?
Floodi combines three sources: real-time flood alerts from the National Weather Service (polled every 15 minutes), stream gauge readings from USGS, and community-submitted street-level reports. The live map shows all three layers together so you can see both official alerts and what neighbors are observing on specific streets.
Is Floodi free?
Yes. For residents, the flood map, alerts, and public reporting are always free. Paid plans are for organizations: HOAs and property managers ($299/mo per organization, with a free 30-day pilot) and government agencies (pilot-based, free during the evaluation period).
Which areas does Floodi cover?
All 67 Florida counties. NWS alerts and USGS gauge data cover the full state. Community reporting is available statewide, with dedicated city and county pages for Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Orange, Duval, Monroe, and others.
How do I report flooding?
Tap Report on the bottom nav (or visit /report), choose a severity level (minor, moderate, severe), optionally attach a photo, and submit. Reports appear on the live map within seconds. You can report anonymously without creating an account.
Does Floodi replace 911 or official emergency alerts?
No. Floodi is a supplemental situational awareness tool. It does not dispatch emergency services, does not distribute official evacuation orders, and is not a replacement for 911, NWS, or FloridaDisaster.org. Every Floodi page and report includes a clear safety notice to that effect.
Does Floodi work offline?
Yes — Floodi is a Progressive Web App. You can install it to your home screen. Previously loaded map data is cached, and reports queue while offline and submit once connectivity is restored.
How is community data verified?
Reports go through a multi-stage pipeline: AI photo classification (confirms the image shows actual flood conditions), vote-based confirmation by other users, NWS polygon cross-check (reports inside an active warning area get an NWS-confirmed badge), and a 6-hour auto-expiration for unresolved reports. Accounts are rate-limited to 5 reports per hour at the database level.
Floodi is not affiliated with the National Weather Service, NOAA, USGS, or FEMA. Floodi does not replace 911 or official emergency instructions. Last reviewed: June 17, 2026.