Navigation apps have become essential in our daily lives. Whether finding a route to a new location or spotting traffic jams, navigation apps such as Waze help us during our ride. However, these apps aren’t just for that; they offer much more.
For example, the Waze app allows adding multiple stops during our trip and even detects speed cameras and police checkpoints. Also, if you live in an area prone to flash floods and are a regular user of the app, you must have thought about whether Waze detects flooded cities or roads.
Well, that’s what we are here to explain. We’ll also talk about how to check flooded cities and roads in the Waze app, and how accurate its flood detection is. So, without wasting further time, let’s jump right into it.
Does the Waze app detect floods?
In short, YES, Waze can detect floods. Until the end of 2021, the Waze app had a feature that could warn drivers of floods along the route.
However, that feature relied on a crowdsourcing engine that powered all other notifications within the app back then. In other words, drivers on the same route as you had to report or flag a location for a flood before you could get alerts for flooded roads or locations.
Fast forward to January 2022, a partnership between the Google-owned RISE organization and FloodMapp made the whole thing work pretty in a straightforward manner. The latter developed a forecasting system that analyzes tidal, riverine, and rainfall data to estimate where exactly flooding can occur in real time.
This ensured that the Waze app delivered accurate flood warnings without the help of any drivers on the road. However, Waze then asked all users to confirm if the flood was indeed happening at the marked location. That’s simply because the technology was new and Waze wanted to make it foolproof before it could roll out the flood alerts feature to another region.
How to check for flooded cities and roads in the Waze app?
Currently, the Waze app continues to rely on reports to show flooded locations or roads. The app displays flood warnings to you through visual and audio notifications. If a flooded area exists on your route, the Waze app will perform a re-route to keep you safe.
Now that you know the Waze app offers alerts or warnings for flooded locations or roads, it’s time to learn how to check such warnings. Here’s how to check flooded cities and roads in the Waze app.
1. First of all, open the Waze app.
2. Now, search for your destination.
3. If there’s any flood occurring on your route, you’ll see a pop-up on the map as seen in the image below.
4. That’s not all, Waze will display an alternative route to keep you safe from elevated water levels or flooded areas.
Similarly, when searching for an area, you’ll see a flood icon indicating areas with elevated water levels. The image below is an example of what you’ll see when searching for a city with plenty of flooded spots.
The Waze app has been useful during past flooding occurrences across the US
The Waze app has been quite a lifesaver for users in past flood occurrences across different states in the US. Last year, citizens in Norfolk, Virginia were advised by the authorities to use the Waze app to avoid flooded roadways.
That’s just one example, Waze has helped thousands of its users with this feature when weather was not in their favor. Honestly, the Waze app continues to deliver, and has been a go-to choice for anyone living in coastal communities worldwide.
Is Waze’s flood detection better than Google Maps / Apple Maps?
Waze is undoubtedly one of the best navigation apps and stands neck to neck with the likes of Google Maps and Apple Maps. However, since Waze relies mostly on user-reported alerts and warnings for floods along a route, it can sometimes be confusing.
It’s entirely possible that a small road block might be flooded while the drivers passing by report the whole area as flooded. On the other hand, Google Maps and Apple Maps not only use user reports to detect and display flood alerts, but they are also backed by various sources, including meteorological agencies and satellite imagery.
Therefore, it’s more reliable. That said, Waze isn’t useless. Despite most of its features being crowdsourced, it does the job pretty well and has been quite useful.
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- How to Avoid Tolls on Waze (Step-by-Step Guide)
- How to Add Multiple Stops on Waze
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- How to set Waze as Default Navigation app on iPhone
