The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has released a new app to make drought and flood information more usable for Missouri residents. It's been in the works since a large flood in the state in 2019. State hydrologist Zack Leasor said the app isn’t just for preparing people for natural disasters, such as flash floods, but also for everyday tasks such as monitoring soil moisture while gardening.
“Whether it be additional stream gauging, soil monitoring, taking what’s called the national water model, which is an operational flood model across the whole state, taking that data and finding a way to display it,” said Zackary Becker the unit chief of the Missouri Hydrologic Information Center. He said the app was designed to make complex information digestible for the public.
Creators decided to only have five settings within the app, allowing users to flip between looking at floods, drought, soil moisture and more. Becker said that they built it with someone’s grandma in mind, hoping anyone could understand the information was trying to share.
The information comes from data collected by the state. Officials are trying to add more soil markers so they can better monitor the entire state.
Leasor said the app gives people the ability to better monitor and prevent economic damage.
“Flooding and drought makeup really about half of the economic damages we see here in Missouri from severe weather and hazardous weather so understanding and being able to monitor flood and drought is extremely important,” he said.
The app, called Missouri Flood and Drought, is available to download on Apple and Android devices.
