Engineering.
Data.
Infrastructure.
SurgeWatch is an engineering project by Nicholas Cornell, inspired by Hurricane Sandy and built to make flood risk easier to understand through live data, transparent scoring, and site-specific analysis.
My Story
When I was growing up in Hoboken, New Jersey, Hurricane Sandy flooded my family's home with nearly five feet of water overnight. Our neighborhood was transformed, and for years afterward I saw firsthand how a single storm could affect homes, infrastructure, and entire communities.
That experience stayed with me. It made me curious about why flooding happens, why some places are more vulnerable than others, and how engineers can design communities that are better prepared.
Those questions eventually led me to build SurgeWatch. What began as a personal coding project has become an ongoing engineering project that combines live weather forecasts, FEMA flood maps, river gauges, elevation data, tide influence, and other public information into a transparent flood risk assessment.
My goal is not simply to predict flooding, but to help people understand the engineering behind it and make better decisions before flooding occurs.
Why I Built SurgeWatch
Flooding is not caused by one thing. It is the result of many systems interacting at once: rainfall, elevation, drainage, rivers, tides, infrastructure, geology, and the built environment.
SurgeWatch was created to bring those systems together into one clear analysis. Instead of showing raw data alone, the platform explains why each factor matters and how it contributes to the overall flood risk score.
Project Roadmap
Live Today
- National Weather Service alerts
- FEMA flood zones
- USGS river gauges
- Ground elevation
- Rainfall forecasts
- Tide influence
Coming Soon
- Watershed analysis
- Geologic history
- Soil characteristics
- Foundation engineering
- Drainage modeling
- AI-powered flood timing forecasts
Long-Term Vision
As I continue studying engineering, I hope to expand SurgeWatch into a platform that incorporates watershed analysis, geology, soil conditions, drainage systems, construction risk, and infrastructure resilience.
I want to build tools that help homeowners, engineers, planners, and communities better understand flood risk and design more resilient places.
Engineering is not just about building structures. It is about building better decisions.
Contact
Nicholas Cornell
Founder & Developer, SurgeWatch.live
NCKKCornell@gmail.com