A Conversation with Professor Brett Branco on FloodNet and Vulnerable NYC Communities

01

Background

Will Duhl: How did you get from a background in oceanography to working on flooding and climate issues in New York?

Brett Branco

I'm an associate professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Brooklyn College, and my background is in marine science in general. I've always worked in coastal environments. So when I first got to Brooklyn College, I immediately started doing a lot of research on things like water quality issues in Jamaica Bay: a lot of stuff around sea level rise, habitat loss, etc. But the interest in flooding emerged from my work with the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay. The Institute, which is a CUNY-wide institute, was created by New York City and the National Park Service to help support decision-making through research, education, and engagement. The geography is the Jamaica Bay watershed, not just the waters and habitats around the bay, but the watershed where there are 2 million people.

We do a lot of engagement with communities, and one of the first things the Institute did was start having conversations with communities about impacts they may be experiencing due to climate change. There was one specifically focused on flooding, held in Hamilton Beach, right along the shores of Jamaica Bay.

That started a long process of engagement with communities, trying to better understand the frequency, causes, severity, and impacts of flooding, and trying to engage communities, city agencies, and researchers in dialogue about solutions. It emerged from our mission, but also from talking to communities about what they were experiencing and what they needed help with. Flooding just emerged as the big issue.

02

Working with local communities

Will Duhl: What was your experience interacting with people in these vulnerable communities? Historically, the government hasn't focused on them; were they open to working with you?

Brett Branco

They have been very open to working with us, and I think one reason is that part of what we do is acknowledging and including local expertise on flooding in the conversations. We elevate the community experience to the same level as researchers' technical knowledge about things like sea level rise. Hamilton Beach is a great example: there are people there with a very deep understanding of the relationship between tides, sea level rise, and flooding, and well-developed communication networks to help fellow residents cope with it. That kind of local experience and knowledge hasn't always been valued, listened to, acknowledged, or made visible to the powers that be.

Through some of the work we've done, I think it's helped city agencies better understand flooding issues. Has it led to very tangible solutions improving the lives of communities? I think it's moving in that direction. But to be fair, it's a complicated and extremely expensive issue to solve. Most people I know in city agencies care deeply and want to help, but sometimes they're constrained by process, which makes things seem like they're moving too slowly for people suffering from flooding problems.

03

FloodNet's origin

Will Duhl: FloodNet sounds like it grew out of the Jamaica Bay Institute work. What motivated you and your partners to start it?

Brett Branco

The trajectory started with those flood and climate forums: listening to communities, engaging with them, asking what they need. Some wanted more knowledge exchange and information. One thing we thought could help was making their situation more visible in ways validated by science. They said yes, because a lot of communities felt like their calls would go unheeded.

So we started a project called Community Flood Watch to make flooding visible to people beyond the community. People shared photos in internal Facebook groups, but that wasn't visible to the DEP or NYC Emergency Management. So we had people record flooding with photos and share them with us, attaching metadata (tide level, weather conditions) so we could start connecting conditions with types of flooding and severity.

At some point the communities said, "Okay, we've been sharing a lot of photos, but how many do we need to share for it to mean something?" We concluded photos should be complemented by more automated ways of collecting information: that's where sensors came in. Sensors can passively monitor for flooding 24 hours a day. If flooding happens at three in the morning, no one's going to be up to take a photo, but a sensor can capture that, along with the exact timing and depth. Sensors weren't meant to replace photographs: to fully capture what flooding is like, you need sensor data, visual data, and people's stories about living with it.

A lot of planning at the city level needs information about flooding to design the right projects. With data from before and after a project, you can see if there's a difference in the flooding experienced in that place. The data is also useful for communities who want to advocate for solutions; they can bring their stories, but also hard data: "This is real; it gets 3 feet deep and lasts for 2 hours." The data alone won't create solutions, but it contributes to the knowledge base from which solutions get developed.

04

Partnerships, siting, and funding

Will Duhl: What have been the biggest challenges, and what partnerships are most critical to overcoming them?

Brett Branco

Partnerships with community organizations and residents matter for figuring out the best places to put sensors so they serve the most value, for making sure residents want sensors in their neighborhood, and for making data publicly accessible, plus spending time helping people understand how to read and use it.

Partnerships with city agencies are key too, since they're charged with solutions and enable a city-wide sensor network. We have standing permission from the Department of Transportation to put a sensor on any U-channel signpost in the city; without that open permission, it would be too cumbersome to get permission every single time.

As for challenges: you don't always have the infrastructure or environmental conditions to put a sensor exactly where you'd like. If there's not a U-channel signpost, if it can't get enough sunlight to stay charged, or if there's interference, that prevents the sensor from measuring water depth. Siting can be a real constraint. And for any city project like this, funding to maintain and operate the network once it's built is a big challenge: the only way people will fund operation and maintenance is if it's useful.

Will Duhl: Do you foresee working with city agencies to fund and install more sensors?

Brett Branco

That's exactly how it's being done right now. Most FloodNet funding comes from the NYC Department of Environmental Protection. The plan has always been to build out this network for them, and then they assume operational control; that's supposed to happen at the end of this fiscal year, so between now and June 2027 the DEP should take over responsibility for the sensor network. The academic team will continue our work as FloodNet and seek other funding, but the city's network will be run by the city.

05

Where the data goes next

Will Duhl: What kinds of projects do you see happening using FloodNet data?

Brett Branco

One is using the data to improve models and forecasts, giving people better warning about potential flooding: rainfall, storm surge, or high tide flooding. We're trying to improve our understanding of how much water in the streets results from a given amount of rainfall or tide condition.

We'd also like to research how flood sensors can improve community response to flooding events. We're applying for funding to work with a community group in the Rockaways and the CUNY School of Public Health on how flooding disrupts access to healthcare, how it might isolate vulnerable people in their homes, and what community response is needed to make sure they're okay. We're also using sensor data to evaluate the effectiveness of different city responses and infrastructure projects.

06

Advice for young people

Will Duhl: What can the average New Yorker do to protect themselves and their community from flooding?

Brett Branco

Make sure you're signed up for alerts, like the NYC alert system: the information sent out ahead of potential flooding has gotten much more detailed, including basement flooding, which they didn't use to mention much. They also now send more information about what to do after an event: how to get resources, how to report it. Sign up for alerts, know that FloodNet exists, know where to check a sensor to see if it's safe to drive on a road or through an intersection. And have a plan for what you'll do if it floods. After Sandy or Ida, everyone talked about hurricane preparedness, but it doesn't take a hurricane to create big disruption or dangerous flooding.

Will Duhl: What would you say to young people who want to make a difference on climate?

Brett Branco

It's nice to hear that there are youth who want to do that! One thing is to understand there are so many ways to contribute that align with your interests. People automatically think of science or engineering, but if you're interested in finance, there's a lot of work being done on how to change financing systems to pay for climate adaptation: that's one of the big problems we have to solve. If you're interested in communications, one of the big challenges is how we communicate about climate change and hazards in ways that get people to respond.