Abstract

Flood Inundation Analysis of Houston
Track: Disaster and Emergency Management
Authors: Larry Nierth

Houston, Texas is located in an area that is prone to flooding. The most common questions people ask when flooding is predicted or a flash flood warning is issued are, 'Could my property be affected by flooding, and if so, where on my property is likely to flood and how much water is predicted?' This project answers these questions for several critical parts of central Houston by determining actual flood water depths for various hypothetical flood scenarios, with results open to the public via web map. Lidar data (and derived digital elevation models (DEMs)) are the basis of the project for a true three dimensional (3D) perspective of the different flood scenarios, and HAZUS-MH is used for flood grid generation. The end product is a presentation of the summarized analysis and a demonstration of the public-facing website where citizens of Houston can check for inundation by address or coordinate searches.