Great Lakes Region, MI
Helping Rural Counties to Enhance Flooding and Coastal Disaster Resilience and Adaptation
Organization: Michigan Technological University
Primary Investigator: Thomas Oommen
Research Track: Climate & Environmental Resilience
Helping Rural Counties to Enhance Flooding and Coastal Disaster Resilience and Adaptationis led by Michigan Technological University and will work with two counties in Upper Michigan to develop methods that use remote sensing data resources and citizen engagement (crowdsourcing) to address current data gaps for improved flood hazard modeling and visualization that is transferable to rural communities in the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The project partners include the University of Washington, Western Upper Peninsula Planning & Development Region office, and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Natural Resources Department.
NSF Abstract
Flooding is a leading cause of natural disasters in the US, with congressional budget office estimates of $54 billion in loss each year. Although both urban and rural areas are highly vulnerable to flood hazards, most natural disaster resilience studies have focused on urban areas, often overlooking rural communities. One such area that has been overlooked are the many rural communities bordering the Great Lakes. These communities face unprecedented challenges due to rising water levels, particularly since 2012, which have resulted in significant coastal flooding in the communities. Flood hazard assessments are a critical tool used to support communities in determining how to mitigate flooding; however, data gaps in current flood hazard modeling tools render them inaccurate for rural communities. The project brings together community partners?including a regional planning agency, county officials, and local officials from the Keweenaw Bay Indian community?with a university team to understand the data gaps in addressing flooding and coastal disaster in two rural counties in Northern Michigan. The project will use various strategies, including sensors and crowdsourced information, to fill critical information gaps required to improve flood hazard modeling in rural communities bordering the Great Lakes.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) commonly recommend counties to use a freely available tool, called HAZUS, to develop hazard mitigation plans and enhance community resilience and adaptation. However, for rural communities, the use of standard datasets within HAZUS often has serious deficiencies, unless augmented with additional data and analyses. The proposed project's vision is to develop methods that use remote sensing data resources and citizen engagement (crowdsourcing) to address current data gaps for improved flood hazard modeling and visualization that is transferable to other rural communities. The results of the project will expand the traditional frontiers of preparedness and resilience to natural disasters by drawing on the expertise and backgrounds of investigators working at the interface of geological engineering, civil engineering, computer science, marine engineering, urban planning, river and floodplain hydraulics, social science, and remote sensing. This project is part of the Civic Innovation Challenge, a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Energy's Vehicle Technology Office, and the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.