2011 NeFSMA Conference - Reconstruction of Ames Iowa Storm for the Papillion Creek Watershed

Reconstruction of Ames Iowa August 2010 Storm for the Papillion Creek Watershed, Amanda Grint, Papio-Missouri River NRD, Omaha, NE and Laurie Carrette Zook, HDR Engineering, Inc., Omaha, NE

Could the Ames, IA storm that caused so much damage to Iowa State University have happened in the Omaha metro?  How would the Papillion Creek Watershed, which includes Omaha and surrounding communities, respond to a similar rainfall? August 8-10, 2010 three days of rainfall totaling 8 to 9 1/2 inches hit Ames resulting in 1 death, a community of 56,000 residents without drinking water and $30 to $40 million in damages to Iowa State University. 

Meteorologists used rain gage and radar data from the National Weather Service to reconstruct the Ames, Iowa August 2010 storm over the Papillion Creek Watershed.  The Papillion Creek Watershed (outlined in the figure on the right) was transposed over the storm event in such a way as to adhere to meteorological principles that are specific to storms that impact our area.  The graphic to the right shows the most intense rainfall over the three day period, on August 11, 2010, rainfall totals were 5-6 inches just upstream of Ames.  The rainfall distribution was analyzed and reconstructed for the Papillion Creek Watershed.  The rainfall data was used to estimate flows that were then modeled using the Papillion Creek topography and geometry to estimate the effect that the Ames storm would have here.  Areas predicted to be flooded were mapped and preliminary estimates of damages were conducted.

2011 NeFSMA Conference - USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Initiative

USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Initiative – A National Program - Richard Wilson P.E., Associate Director, USGS Nebraska Water Science Center

Learning objectives: The USGS is implementing a nationwide flood-inundation mapping program. The goal of the program is to enable government officials to make timely operational and public-safety decisions during floods based on the best available data, studies, and resources. 

This presentation will outline the comprehensive and partner-based USGS Flood-Inundation Mapping Initiative and discuss early successes in Michigan and Ohio, and a real-time flood-inundation mapping project in Washington.

A powerful new tool for flood response and mitigation is digital geospatial flood-inundation mapping that shows flood-water extent and depth on the land surface. Flood-inundation maps that are tied to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) real-time streamgage data and National Weather Service (NWS) flood forecast sites enable officials to make timely operational and public-safety decisions during floods. A long-term goal of the program is to promote and implement real-time flood-inundation mapping. 


Because floods are the leading cause of natural-disaster losses, and because disasters associated with flooding can be reduced with proper preventative measures, development of a USGS National flood-inundation mapping science initiative is critical to meet USGS science strategy goals for the National Hazards, Risk, and Resilience Assessment Program major science direction. A USGS National flood-inundation mapping science initiative benefits and fosters partnerships with other Federal agencies such as the NWS, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); and State and local agencies.

Little Bazile Creek Watershed Floodplain Mapping Begins

Information about the efforts to begin floodplain mapping for Little Bazile Creek Watershed at Bloomfield in Knox County was released by NDNR on November 4, 2010.

http://dnr.ne.gov/NewsReleases/FEMA_LittleBazileCreek.pdf

Information about the mapping effort can be directed to Shuhai Zeng, Head of the Floodplain/Dam Safety/ Survey Division. 402.471.3936.