191. From Prevention to Recovery: AI in Disaster Management

What this episode covers

Daniel and Forbode discuss research from Texas A&M University, led by Dr. Ali Mustafavi, which uses AI to improve hurricane and flood disaster management. The team developed models named Flood Genome and Elevision to predict flood risks and building elevations using hydrological, topographic, and Google Street View data, achieving high accuracy against historical records. They also created tools to monitor real-time evacuation patterns and grocery store traffic to gauge community preparedness, with the goal of commercializing these technologies for public sector use to save lives and optimize recovery efforts.