Like many on the West Coast, when fire season approaches, I switch on phone alerts from the popular free app Watch Duty. It combines reports from first responders, volunteers and other sources of data into a map and running log of nearby fires and their current status. It's one of the few apps that goes beyond being merely useful and can genuinely save lives. Starting Monday, Watch Duty is covering floods, too.

The flooding coverage is available nationwide at no extra cost, and adds blue flood icons to Watch Duty's maps alongside its existing red flame markers. 

If you already have Watch Duty, the next time you open the app you'll be greeted with a message about flood coverage and an invitation to "Explore Flood Layers." This'll take you to settings where you can choose alerts for general wildfires, weather, floods or all of the above. You can also choose what type of flood alerts you receive, from watches and warnings to observed water levels or only declared FEMA flood hazard warnings. 

Watch Duty also told me that its app would be providing live reporting on specific flood incidents that could immediately endanger lives, such as dam/levee failures or downed bridges. 

This expansion follows Watch Duty's early 2026 partnership with security company Ring, which allows Ring users to receive Watch Duty notifications through the Ring Neighbors app and opt in to using their cameras to automatically detect potential signs of fire -- a feature you can turn off if you don't want Ring's AI watching.