Welcome To FloodChat (v1)

Quick answers to your questions

Quick Answers To Your Flooding Questions

FloodChat is a free new chatbot to help NYC renters with flooding to answer questions quickly and in many languages.

We pulled together lots of good NYC-specific info covering lots of topics related to flooding, including renter’s rights, how to work with landlord, insurance, health, mitigation options, clean up, local stories and local help.

Want To Test It Out?

We are in BETA which means we think it’s pretty good…but what do you think?

Step 1: Find your borough below and click on the button.

Step 2: Use FloodChat for 5 minutes

  • New to chatbots? You can just type ”hi” to start

  • Ask your flooding questions or select one of the options.

  • See if you can get closer to a helpful solution

  • When finished, type “done” (gives you link to Step 3)

Step 3: Fill out feedback form to answer 2 min of questions

That’s it! Oh, and we will pay you $10 for completing all the steps. 😅

For more on FloodChat, click here. Or just use it. Let’s go.

Click on Your Borough

Looking for Feedback Form?

If you are back here after testing FloodChat, click here to fill out the feedback form.

More on How FloodChat Works

FloodChat is meant to be a 24/7 flood helper. It’s a NYC-specific chatbot that connects you to trusted guidance and community resources — faster than scrolling through dozens of web pages which can often be repetitive.. And we picked from hundreds of quality sources so it’s better than random internet stuff. Moreover, it was built to help you from go from risk to solution in under 5 min with relevant hyper-local neighborhood information. Can be used in preparing before a storm, facing flooding right now, or recovering afterward. And can scale up in times of need.

We built FloodChat to have a NYC temperament and context. That means:

  • short answers (get to the point)

  • keep it local

  • a friendly you-got-this-vibe

  • local pictures and stories (where we have them…more to be added)

  • we send you to local hardware store vs Amazon

The User Experience

1. Why choose your borough?
We did different boroughs to improve the image recall by AI. With so many images, we didn’t have the technical ability to find and return all images across the city in one city-wide FloodChat in a consistent way, so we split it up for now. But we are confident we can bring it all together in one “front door” in the future.

2. Chat and learn (in up to 40 languages!)
When you open FloodChat, you’ll start a short conversation designed to help you:

  • Identify what stage you’re in such as before, during, or after a flood.

  • Get clear, renter-friendly steps to protect your home or belongings.

  • Access trusted local resources, like 311, community programs, or city maps.

  • Learn from real stories and examples shared by New Yorkers.

Each chat can be as long as you’d like, providing you actionable, local information, with no log-ins or downloads needed.

3. Take action.
We suggest clear next steps, connect to city or local services, and learn from real stories shared by New Yorkers.

What’s The Goal

The main goal is to make it easier for 2.3M NYC renters to figure out “what do I do?” when it comes to stormwater/flooding risk.

Of that, an estimated 10% are in high flood risk areas.  There are ~4,300 “basement” apartments in NYC, and many more are street level.  So that is the primary audience for FloodChat v1.  As has been documented, this high-risk group may not know their risk, nor have alteration rights nor funds to protect where they live.

And every renter is not in the same situation.  And one question will lead to many sub-questions but also different ones depending on where they live, their language, their relationship with the landlord and the building, and their budget. 

By making it easier to find quality information in one place AND explore it (ask questions in the way they process information), they can ask questions about their specific situation, get answers to their questions…and in their language.  This is how we help renters across NYC understand stormwater risk but also help them take mitigation actions appropriate to them. We can help them prepare to “live with more water” by making the community engagement aspect more engaging, specific to their situation, and digestible versus overwhelming. 

Why Use AI and a Chatbot

To do this, we leverage the capabilities of AI to synthesize vast amounts of decentralized information and make it more accessible in a conversational, multi- language format.  That helps a diverse set of NYC residents get their questions answered in their language and at the level of detail they wont (or don’t want).

Also people like to text, chat, and see short posts, pictures, and videos…so let’s use that behavior to engage them on stormwater flood mitigation with a chatbot that chunks-up the steps they need to take into a friendly format.  

For Partners

FloodChat partners with city agencies, community-based organizations, researchers, advocacy groups, local nonprofits, and engineering firms to improve how flood data and public guidance reach New Yorkers.

We’re building a shared platform that connects official resources with on-the-ground insights from residents. Your expertise helps ensure the information people receive is accurate, current, and localized.

Why Collaborate with FloodChat

  • Amplify your content: Reach residents directly through borough-specific hyper-local chatbots.

  • Create clear, actionable steps: Turn reports and PDFs into direct support and instructions that help answer any and all questions people have.

  • Validate on the ground: Use FloodChat’s user feedback to spot emerging flood risks or information gaps.

How to Get Involved

We make it easy to integrate your materials into FloodChat’s source library.
Partners can share existing PDFs, datasets, or videos, which are converted into searchable, thumbnail-based resources with consistent metadata tagging (borough, topic, building type, and stage of flooding).

If you are interested in getting involved, here are some paths forward:

  • Share with us local flood resources, maps, or stories to add to the FloodChat source database. We cite all of our sources and collaborations on this page for folks to reference.

  • Embed FloodChat on your organization’s website to help residents connect faster. Chat with us to learn how you can get FloodChat on your page.

  • Partner with us on community workshops or data collaborations. We host in-person events to meet with folks directly.

Reach out to [email protected] if you are interested in participating?

Contact

Have feedback, want to partner, or share your story? Reach out to [email protected].

Data Privacy

FloodChat is built for public learning and does not collect or store personal information beyond what you choose to share in a feedback form.

Here’s how we handle data:

  • Your messages are not saved or linked to your name or address.

  • If you complete a feedback form, your answers are stored securely through Google Forms, separate from the chat.

  • Any analytics collected are aggregate only, to help us understand how FloodChat is used and improve it for future versions.

  • We never sell or share user data with advertisers or third parties.