A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Science in Embedded and Mobile Systems of the Nelson Mandela African
Institution of Science and Technology
Climate change is a major cause of the increase of environmental natural disasters like floods,
droughts, and storms. Although several countries have been affected by such natural disasters,
the East African region is one of the most affected. This work focuses on floods as the most
frequent disaster in the East African region where 280 died and about 2.8 million people were
affected from the floods that occurred in 2019 alone. Different techniques have since been
developed to mitigate the effects of floods. However, the methodologies used have not
responded to the identified problems that include lack of community awareness, information
inadequacy, and low-cost systems. To solve these problems, the present study aims at
developing a low-cost system that detects and alerts the community on upcoming flood
incidents. The proposed floodwater detection and early warning system comprise of three units.
The sensing unit continuously monitors environmental parameters using ultrasonic,
temperature and humidity sensors. The processing unit processes and analyses the collected
data from sensors then, the alerting unit alerts the community and local authorities using a
buzzer and a Short Message Service notification. The system uses the Global System for
Mobile Communication to provide internet connectivity which enables data to be collected,
stored, and monitored in the cloud. The system was implemented at Themi river and results
showed that floods can be detected and the community near the flood-prone area alerted early.
Therefore, the use of the developed system in flood-prone areas can contribute to
environmental disaster risk mitigation.