Is your state in a risk-colored section of this map? According to NOAA’s three-month Spring Outlook, you need to be ready with your best mitigation and preparedness tips and education.
Check out the resources on the EDEN website and eXtension. Each site’s search function features additional excellent resources.
What are your favorite flood mitigation and preparedness resources?
Floods are among the most common disasters in the United States, but most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage.
The level of risk of flood depends on where you live. To learn whether your property is in a low, moderate or high risk area, you can complete a One-Step Flood Risk Profile or review the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for your area. FloodSmart.gov includes several flood risk scenarios that highlight factors that can impact different areas.
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), created in 1968, offers flood insurance to individuals and business owners if their communities participate in the NFIP. Participating communities agree to adopt and enforce floodplain management standards.
Community constituents receive discounted insurance rates based on actions the community has taken to reduce flood risks. The discounts are also reflected in policies on community-owned buildings. The Community Rating System (CRS) is the program through which communities earn those discounts for their constituents.
To earn discounts, communities implement and provide proof of their local mitigation, outreach and educational activities that go beyond minimum NFIP requirements. You can review the status of communities in your state by visiting FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program Community Status Book.
Learn more about the Community Rating System by reviewing StormSmart Coasts CRS Primer.
Going on location to disasters can be a new and harrowing experience for some Extension personnel. Not only are there physical hazards, but mental and social hazards may be part of the turf too.
You may ask yourself if you are doing the right thing. You could begin to doubt if you are putting in enough time relative to the overwhelming needs. You might attend a town hall meeting in which the situation turns ugly. Your family may miss you and you may miss them. And least of all, but not unimportant, you may wonder if you are ever going to get the yard mowed.
Because responding to disaster is new to some in Extension and not new to others, I bet we all have some tips to share. One is having someone close to talk about what you are going through. Another is having a great team of educators and specialists who help with the response. And, my final tip for this blog is to be on the same page with your boss and administrators. At a risk of going on a tangent in this blog, some will argue that Extension doesn’t have a place in direct response. I have found that education is well received in the response phase of a disaster, especially if you’ve made the upfront efforts and contacts.
Recently, FEMA provided a very clear list of hazards associated with flood and cleanups, which range from fatigue to snakes. It is available on the EDEN Floods and Flooding page at http://eden.lsu.edu/Topics/Hazards/Floods/
What other tips might be useful? Please share so we can all respond smarter.
Steve Cain – Purdue University Extension
Flooding due to snow melt and rain has been in progress in the Dakotas and neighboring states for several weeks. Now the Mississippi River flood crest is forecast to move slowly downstream toward New Orleans in the next three weeks. More than 180 locations over several states are currently experiencing flood.
Check the EDEN Floods and Flooding Topic Page for current situation and featured resources.
Other resources can be found on eXtension. Learn what you can do to reduce damage caused by floods, how to prepare your family for disaster, and more.
A post by Rick Atterberry
The Ready Campaign has forwarded the latest North Central U.S. Flood Risk from the Hydrologic Information Center of the National Weather Service. There is a concern for moderate to major flooding in much of the upper Midwest due to saturated ground, snow cover and later snow melt. In addition there was been rapid snow melt in parts of the mid-Mississippi basin last week resulting in flood warnings on several rivers and streams.
Here is the text of the Ready Campaign message:
For the third consecutive year, moderate to major flooding is expected along the Red River of the North, which forms the state border between eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota and includes the Souris River Basin and the Devils Lake and Stump Lake drainages in North Dakota.
Devils Lake, North Dakota
Red River of the North in North Dakota and Minnesota
James River and the Big Sioux River in South Dakota
Upper Mississippi River in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri
For complete details, see the North Central Spring Flood outlook.
Several days of above normal to record warm temperatures across the center of the country has melted much of the snowpack from the central Plains to the northern Ohio Valley. This runoff, along with ice jams in some areas, has resulted in minor to locally moderate flooding. More than 40 river forecast points from southern South Dakota to northern Ohio either have reached or will exceed flood stage by Sunday, with a handful reaching moderate flood stage. Over 100 additional river forecast points are or will be near flood stage.
A post by Pat Skinner
While the winter storms had more people being colder, longer than ever before, it also dropped record amounts of snow across the country’s mid-section and up toward New England. All that snow sits trapped by the cold – like so much water behind invisible dams that will release their impoundments as temperatures rise. So, without so much as a drop of rain, many places around the country will be looking at significant floods.
The snow-melt floods, the resulting fullness of the river systems, and the often super-saturated or still-frozen condition of the ground, will exacerbate rain-induced flooding. Rivers and streams will be more prone to flooding in rain storms that would not have otherwise produced floods. It is a particularly difficult year for flood forecasters in much of the country, because the rate of release (snow melt) is uncertain.
NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) operates thirteen River Forecast Centers across the United States. River Forecast Centers collect, process, and provide forecasts and information about water resources for major river basins across the country. This network is supported by the extensive gauge system of the US Geological Survey (USGS) and gauges operated by the Corps of Engineers and others.
The USGS WaterAlert widget on the EDEN Floods and Flooding page allows the user to get past and present readings, but forecasts are provided by the National Weather Service. Delegates should touch base with local emergency managers to see what is being predicted for their area.
We have asked the Association of state Floodplain Managers to help us get a national perspective and outlook. What are the hot-spots for snow-melt flooding? Where is the Corps preparing for flood flight operations?
EDEN will be conducting a series of flood help Webinars to help our educators know where flooding is anticipated; and how we can help our citizens deal with the threat, stay safe, and protect their properties and pocketbooks from flood damage. Webinars are being announced by e-mail and through the EDEN News and Features. The first Webinar is scheduled for February 21.
Regards, Virginia Morgan, EDEN Chair
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