The USGS Hurricane-Induced Coastal Erosion Hazards site is a great way to get a rough idea of some of the other hazards Gulf of Mexico communities face during hurricanes. The image here is of Corpus Christi (because we had this summer’s Gulf of Mexico Alliance meeting there). The different bands show where the waves will […]
Tag Archives | Mapping
NOAA Shares Tools for Understanding and Addressing Coastal Inundation
The NOAA Coastal Services Center, as part of their Digital Coast program, has assembled a Coastal Inundation Toolkit. The new “Visualize” section allows users to learn how different types of visualizations can help communities understand their inundation risks and vulnerabilities. The “Picture It” page offers tools and local examples of how photos, maps, and mapping […]
QUICK-TIP: Using Google Earth to View FIRMs
Need to quickly check to see which flood zone a property is in? Have Google Earth installed on your computer (it’s free, though you may need administrative rights to install it on your computer)? FEMA has a page explaining how to get those pesky FIRMs into your mapping system. Read about it here: Using the […]
Will the Next Hurricane Put You Underwater? New Site Shows How Deep
Have a look at the new Miami-Dade County Storm Surge Simulator which lets you click on a map to show where you live and then select the severity of the storm before it shows you just how deep that water will be when that next hurricane hits. You can even select whether you want to […]
New Tool: Coastal CHARM
I saw this impressive tool demonstrated at the Gulf of Mexico Alliance meeting last week. Super excited about it, and very much looking forward to what John Jacob and his Texas Sea Grant/AgriLife Extension Service crew come up with next. Coastal CHARM (Community Health And Resource Management) You can read more about it on the […]
Not Mapped in the Flood Zone, Not at Storm Surge Risk? Not so Fast.
A new report looking at the risk of homes exposed to hurricane-driven storm surge damage in ten major urban areas along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts finds that the majority of homes in those communities that are in designated surge zones are not included in local flood zones. In Virginia Beach, for example, 87 percent […]
Handy Guide to Coastal Inundation Mapping
NOAA has released a very useful and concise (26-page) guide explaining, step-by-step, how to get the best coastal inundation data for your community, and what you can do with it. From the introduction: Mapping can be a very important part of understanding inundation issues and preparing for the assessment process. Inundation mapping can be viewed […]