Abstract

Determining Flood Event Evacuation Areas & Floodwater Inundation with GIS
Track: Disaster Management and Emergency Response
Author(s): Robert Rowe, Eric Orndorff

This paper will discuss how the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) used ArcGIS to determine flood event evacuation areas and floodwater inundation. SRBC wanted to convert hard copy flood inundation maps derived from hydrologic and hydraulic studies done in the late 1980's into GIS format. The ultimate goal was to use the GIS for reverse 911 notification of local citizens during flood events. We will discuss how we used RTK GPS in conjunction with ArcGIS to convert the flood inundation information to digital form. Current county digital ortho imagery and base mapping served as background mapping layers. At the completion of the project, SRBC and local officials could view flood inundation layers in ArcGIS or ArcIMS draped over ortho imagery and base mapping. This will determine what areas of the community will be impacted by different river flood levels and allow officials to plan for evacuations during flood events.

Robert Rowe
HRG
Suite 100
474 Windmere Dr
State College , Pennsylvania 16801
United States
Phone: 814-238-7117
Fax: 814-238-7126
E-mail: rrowe@hrg-inc.com

Eric Orndorff
HRG
399 E. Park Dr
Harrisburg , Pennsylvania 17111
United States
Phone: 717-564-1121
Fax: 717-564-1158
E-mail: eorndorff@hrg-inc.com