Context: On November 30, 2023, a flood was detected in one of the road tunnels in downtown Lisbon. These tunnels are known as high-risk areas due to a severe incident in 2022, where vehicles were trapped in over 3 meters of water, resulting in injuries to several occupants.
Challenge: The key challenge was to setup a flood monitoring system to quickly identify floods in the road tunnels and allow the authorities to take prompt action to prevent incidents. Ensuring a swift response was critical to avoid any potential harm to infrastructure or people.
Solution: An ultra-early flood detection system was deployed in 7 road tunnels of Downtown Lisbon, strategically placed at the lower sections of the tunnels and close to rainwater drains in order to identify the onset of floodings due to insufficient drainage or clogging.
Results:
At 12:31 on November 30, 2023, our flood monitoring system detected a flood starting in the Av. João XXI road tunnel and immediately issued an alert to the Civil Protection Operational Command Centre.
In response to the alert, operational units were dispatched to the scene and visually confirmed the rising water level, already reaching approximately 20 cm.
Access to the tunnel was promptly closed by authorities to prevent accidents and two clogged drains, obstructed by leaves and debris, were cleared swiftly.
Within 15 minutes of detecting the flood, the tunnel was reopened to traffic.
No damage to infrastructure or injuries were reported, demonstrating the effectiveness of our flood detection system in minimizing the impact of such events through real-time monitoring.
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