Watch Duty enhances emergency response with new flood alert features
(Update: adding comments from Watch Duty)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Summer in Central Oregon is a time many people spend outdoors, but as wildfire season begins, staying alert can be just as important as getting outside.
Watch Duty, a nonprofit app best known for tracking wildfires, is expanding its emergency alert model to include floods.
The organization uses former first responders and emergency experts to interpret wildfire data, monitor official updates and send alerts to users when conditions become dangerous. Now, Watch Duty says it is bringing that same approach to flood information.
“We saw with the increase in flooding, that more and more communities were feeling that challenge of not being able to get accurate or real time information,” said Liz Caselli-Mechael, Watch Duty’s chief communications officer. “And our goal is for the model that has worked in wildfire to help close those gaps for communities in flooding as well.”
The new flood features include river gauges, flood watches and warnings, and map layers showing areas where conditions could become dangerous.
Caselli-Mechael said the app also relies on human reporting, with team members reviewing data, official updates, and on-the-ground conditions before alerts are sent out.
“When you look at that incident, you can see exactly what’s happening,” Caselli-Mechael said. “And that’s coming from a real person with expertise who’s vetting and validating everything that goes out. We want you to get that information as quick as possible, because these really are situations where having an extra five minutes, 30 minutes, hour can make a huge amount of difference.”
Users can customize what they want to monitor, but emergency alerts will still push through for the counties they select.
“We wish you never had to use Watch Duty,” Caselli-Mechael said, “but we will be there when you need us.”
Watch Duty says its ultimate goal is to keep people connected to real-time, verified updates during emergencies, whether they are caused by wildfire or flooding.
