Scientists wanting Northlanders to send them flooding photos may be overwhelmed. The region floods regularly, with this dramatic rescue at Lemon's Hill, between Kawakawa and Ōpua in March 2007
Scientists wanting Northlanders to send them flooding photos may be overwhelmed. The region floods regularly, with this dramatic rescue at Lemon's Hill, between Kawakawa and Ōpua in March 2007
Scientists calling on Kiwis in flood-affected areas to contribute photos to a national database to support understanding of flood hazard and flood risk may be inundated with images from Northland, where flooding is a regular hazard.
Niwa is asking people in flood-affected areas to contribute photos to a national database to support understanding of flood hazard and flood risk.
The NZ Flood Pics project is part of a five-year Endeavour Fund research programme that is examining how flood risk will change over the next century from climate warming, more frequent and extreme weather events, and land-use changes.
As well as being used by Niwa and its research partners, the database will provide a free resource about recent floods in Aotearoa. It will be searchable by location, date and keyword.
Pumps at BP on Riverside Dr were off-limits after floodwater inundated the forecourt in July 2020
Northland floods regularly, with some dramatic scenes across the region in recent years. In fact flooding from storms is one of Northland's most likely natural disasters.
Northland was devastated by a storm on July 17-18, 2020 that dumped 220mm of rain on the region in a few hours. It caused widespread flooding across the region and caused more than $40 million of damage.
That was without the cost of repairing major slips on the Mangamuka Hills, south of Kaitaia, that closed State Highway 1 for more than a year.
Hikurangi Swamp is one of the most flood-prone areas in Northland.
Northlanders who want to send in their images can upload photos taken on smartphone via Niwa's citizen science app, which geolocates where the photo has been taken. There are also options to input more information about the flood.
"We really hope that New Zealanders will help us capture photo evidence of floods across the country. These snapshots will build up our knowledge of where and when flood impacts occur," Dr Andrew Lorrey, Niwa principal scientist of climate and environmental applications, said.
"Floods are unfortunately increasing in frequency and severity across Aotearoa - meaning they pose one of the biggest risk areas for society. The photo database we're building will support new strategies to increase resilience - which is more important than ever."
Hikurangi Swamp farmer Geoff Crawford after the July 2020 storm
Tonkin and Taylor Engineering Manager and flood risk expert Jon Rix, who pioneered the development of NZ Flood Pics, said efforts to protect people and property from floods in New Zealand have traditionally been hampered by the lack of actual flood information.
Floodwaters stream through the grounds of Otiria Marae on the outskirts of Moerewa during the storm of July 2020
"Through the simple application of smartphone photography, NZ Flood Pics can provide a meaningful contribution toward reducing flood risk by providing direct evidence of floods. I am really excited by the development of Niwa's citizen science app, as we look to gather more information to support our country's flood management decision-making."
The app is free to use and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
