Flooding in urban areas is a serious weather-related threat to life and property. Floods from overbanked rivers or ocean storm-surge can cause catastrophic damage to populated areas, but they often develop over hours or days, giving conventional monitoring and warning systems enough time to respond. Alternatively, pluvial floods, often referred to as flash floods, can develop quickly from extreme rainfall events, sometimes leaving just minutes to react. The mounting risk of these pluvial floods became clear in 2025, when the National Weather Service issued a record number of flash flood warnings, the highest in nearly four decades. As more communities experience an increasing frequency of severe rainfall events, urban flash flood detection systems, or “smart utilities”, are becoming ever more important to provide advance warning of impending floods at vulnerable locations.