Global Fund for Disaster Reduction and Recovery - EO

Results achieved as of January 2024 include: (1) established the groundwork for using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and aerial images in Dominica Grenada and Saint Lucia. These tools helped to extract building characteristics like size roof material and damage levels. By overlaying the AI-generated information with hazard maps such as flood inundation maps and storm surge risk maps Caribbean countries are able to will quickly and cost-efficiently identify structures highly vulnerable to natural hazards. In Dominica this information supported the government’s Climate Resilience and Recovery Plan which aims to make 90% of houses resilient enough to withstand disasters by 2030; (2) invested in street view imagery techniques with AI tools to collect building data. This includes equipping vehicles in Dominica with 360° cameras to capture street views and building façades across large parts of the island. They took 35 900 high-resolution photos over 290 km. This helped identify crucial data on 6 700 buildings out of the 32 500 in the country showing how vulnerable they are to natural disasters. They demonstrated the process to the Government of Saint Lucia which plans to use it for the entire island; and (3) delivered training to government staff of Caribbean countries on the fundamentals of earth observation and geospatial technologies.