Flooding

On the 42^nd anniversary of the formation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas released the following statement on Risk Rating 2.0, a bold new update to the National Flood Insurance Program’s pricing methodology.

The Kentucky Department of Water (KYDOW) authored this report of their findings while working in partnership with DHS S&T. The report outlines the process that KYDOW followed to test a series of low-cost flood sensors (LCS) at four pilot locations throughout the state of Kentucky. First, the report describes the site selection process and the factors that needed to be considered for successful installation of the LCS. Then, KYDOW describes the steps they took for data collection and the successes and challenges that they faced through the data collection process. Finally, KYDOW provides the results of their pilot with LCS along with their recommendations. This report should be used as a reference for similar Federal, State, local, tribal, or private entities that wish to use LCS to mitigate flood-associated hazards through real-time monitoring of water levels in at-risk areas.

DHS S&T awarded $3.2 million to California-based small business Intellisense Systems, Inc. for Phase III of a DHS SBIR program focused on designing, developing and testing a network of inexpensive, deployable flood inundation sensors.

The ADvanced CIRCulation (ADCIRC) storm surge model combines rain, atmospheric pressure, and wind forecasts to predict when, where, and to what extent flooding will inundate a coastal community with greater precision than other available models. This enables decision-makers to identify which locations will become unsafe and plan for mitigation and response before severe storms occur.