A flood-tracking network built on ordinary residents snapping photos with their phones has quietly become one of the most effective storm-response tools in Pinellas County, in contrast to the often slow-moving, taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects local governments typically rely on.

The system, known as CRIS-HAZARD, was developed by University of South Florida St. Petersburg professor Barnali Dixon after she secured a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation in 2023. But rather than centering on another expensive government-run monitoring apparatus, the project’s real strength lies in its crowdsourced design: everyday residents use the free “Flood Report” app to submit geotagged photos of flooded streets in their own neighborhoods, creating a real-time record that researchers cross-reference against a network of about 40 cameras placed around the county.

The app soft-launched in September 2024, just days before Hurricane Helene struck the Gulf Coast. Its usefulness was proven almost immediately, and it captured additional data weeks later during Hurricane Milton — a track record that has made the case for the program largely on results rather than promises.

Dixon has compared the platform to Waze, the private-sector navigation app that lets drivers crowdsource traffic conditions in real time. The comparison is notable: rather than relying on a slow-moving public agency to catalog flood conditions after the fact, the system leans on individual residents who choose to participate, with the government’s role limited mostly to installing and maintaining a modest supporting camera network.

That government role has stayed relatively lean so far. The St. Petersburg City Council voted unanimously in July to approve a three-year agreement allowing USF to install another flood-monitoring camera at Clam Bayou Preserve, near the Perry Bayview Community Playground — the ninth such site approved in the city. USF, not the city, will cover maintenance costs, and the university will pay the city a nominal $10 licensing fee for use of the land, a detail that suggests the arrangement is being run efficiently rather than as a new taxpayer-funded program.

Councilmember Brandi Gabbard pulled the item from the council’s consent agenda specifically to draw attention to the partnership, noting that gaps remain in flood camera coverage in parts of the city.

The cameras themselves are simple and inexpensive by government infrastructure standards: solar-powered units paired with striped poles that allow both residents and researchers to visually estimate water depth, which artificial intelligence software then analyzes alongside the crowdsourced photos to refine flood models.

Whether the program can sustain itself once its original NSF grant funding runs its course remains an open question, and one worth watching as more municipalities weigh federally funded pilot programs against building their own resilience infrastructure. For now, though, the model offers a case study in how community participation and modest public-private cooperation — rather than large new government spending — can fill a real public safety need.

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