One of the things I've learned while developing Passable is just how much information you can gather about potential flooding without actually knowing whether a road is flooded!
River levels, rainfall, tides, weather forecasts and ground conditions can all help build a picture of what's happening. Much of that information is already publicly available, but it's scattered across different places and doesn't necessarily tell you whether you can get through Gumfreston.
That's why reports from people who've actually seen the roads are so valuable.
The Gumfreston Flood Updates Facebook group is a useful source of local information, with people sharing what they've seen and helping others decide whether to travel that way.
Passable is intended to complement that, bringing environmental information and community observations together in one place.
And importantly, it's not just reports of flooding that matter.
If you've driven through Gumfreston and the road is completely clear, that's useful information too. It helps establish what conditions were like at a particular time, even if the river is high or there's been a lot of rain.
Over time, those observations could become even more valuable.
I'm currently experimenting with ways to predict when the roads might flood and how long they'll take to clear. But to make those predictions useful, I need to understand how the roads actually respond to different combinations of rainfall, river levels, tides and ground conditions.
That means collecting observations over time, comparing them with the environmental data and gradually learning what works.
It's going to take a while, and probably a few winters!
So if you're travelling through Gumfreston or along Trefloyne Lane and happen to see what the conditions are like, please consider submitting a report on Passable.
It only takes a few seconds, and every genuine observation helps build a better picture of what's happening.
Thanks to everyone who's contributed so far 🙏
Tom