Explore the world’s largest collection of flood maps
The Global Flood Database combines over 15 years of flood data to create the first comprehensive satellite-based resource for global flood risk management and mitigation.
Climate change is exposing millions of people to high risk flood events. The Global Flood Database is the first of its kind to offer a comprehensive look at where floods have happened and who has been impacted the most around the world.
With funding from Google Earth Outreach, flood mapping experts Floodbase and the DFO Flood Observatory combined 15+ years of flood data with human settlement data to create a comprehensive database for researchers, humanitarian workers, community organizations, and insurance and finance providers.
Researchers
Collate and process an extensive global archive of spatial flood extent, duration, and magnitude for over 900 events to build or calibrate models, studies, and zoning efforts.
Disaster managers
Find historic maps in your country in order to inform current and future vulnerability hot spots for increased programming and relief.
Insurance providers
Use observed floods to quantify uncertainty between flood models for risk pricing, and better understand exposure for large historic events.
If you do not see a flood in the database that you need, if you need higher resolution maps, or if you need live maps for an event unfolding now, see the other tools available.
Findings from our research
Between 2000 and 2015 up to 86 million additional people resided in areas identified as flooded globally, representing a 24% increase in the proportion of population exposed to floods.
This increase was not evenly spread across the globe. Countries with increased flood exposure were concentrated in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, home to the majority of people on the globe, while countries in North America and Europe primarily exhibit stable or decreased flood exposure.
In Dhaka, we see an increase in population exposed to flooding in the peri-urban zone around the Buriganga, Shitalakshya, and Dhaleshwari Rivers.
In New Orleans, human settlement data shows a decrease in population around neighborhoods with observed flood exposure in recent years, especially in light of major disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
The Global Flood Database
913
events mapped
169
total countries
2.23mn
sq km inundation
255+mn
affected at least once
Despite representing the least amount of floods (>2%), floods caused by major dam breaks had the highest increase in the proportion of population exposed across all flood types (2.77, or 177%). The trend of people moving into floodplains believed to be protected by infrastructure (that sometimes fails) is referred to as the “levee effect”.
In August 2008 the eastern embankments of the Koshi Barrage collapsed, leaving over 3 million people homeless in Bihar, India. Explore how dam breaks have affected other parts of the world by clicking through the slider.
Permanent water
Flood extent
In August 2008 the eastern embankments of the Koshi Barrage collapsed, leaving over 3 million people homeless in Bihar, India. Explore how dam breaks have affected other parts of the world by clicking through the slider.
Flood explorer
Select a historic flood card or use the search bar to find a country below and view different flood events on the map
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