Hong Kong launches AI flood alert system to boost forecasting and response | South China Morning Post

Hong Kong launches AI flood alert system to boost forecasting and response

New AI model simulates floods in 3D, helping authorities plan faster emergency response and preventive measures across high-risk areas

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Flooding hits Lam Tsuen River in Tai Po during Super Typhoon Ragasa last year. Photo: Jelly Tse

Theodora Yu

Published: 6:37pm, 20 Apr 2026Updated: 8:45pm, 20 Apr 2026

Hong Kong authorities have developed an artificial intelligence-driven flood forecasting and alert system capable of three-dimensional simulations, aimed at enabling more timely pre-emptive measures and emergency responses to flooding.

The technology is the latest addition to the existing territory-wide flood risk visualisation system, which was deployed after Super Typhoon Ragasa struck the city last year.

“This is to foster Hong Kong as a future-facing and climate-resilient city,” Ringo Mok Wing-cheong, director of the Drainage Services Department, said.

The new model, which resulted from a collaborative effort between the department and Guangzhou-based South China University of Technology, integrates big data analysis with artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate flooding in 3D.

By training the model with various data sets, including meteorological statistics for nowcasting rainfall and tides, it can generate real-time flood simulations and illustrate how flooding evolves dynamically in three dimensions.

This will, in turn, help the department to plan ahead for emergency responses to potential flooding.

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