Drought Brings Environmental, Ecological Changes

News Release

March 12, 2009 Charlie Perry 785-832-3549 cperry@usgs.gov

Donita Turk 785-832-3570 dmturk@usgs.gov

Increase Your Knowledge: Flood Safety Awareness Week

One of the most devastating events of a restless earth are floods. Flood Safety Awareness Week is March 16-20, 2009. This week is sponsored by the National Weather Service to highlight some of the many ways floods can occur, the hazards associated with floods, and what you can do to save life and property. For more than 100 years, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has played a critical role in reducing flood losses by operating a nationwide streamgage network that monitors the water level and flow of the Nation’s rivers and streams. Through satellite and computer technology, streamgages transmit real-time hydrologic information, which the National Weather Service uses to issue forecasts and warnings. Then, local emergency managers can get people out of harm’s way, and operators of flood control dams and levees can take action to reduce flood impacts. Other uses of USGS streamgaging data relevant to flooding include: 1) Planning, designing, operating and maintaining the nation’s multipurpose reservoir systems for flood protection; 2) designing highways and bridges; 3) mapping flood plains and establishing flood risk areas, and 4) constructing flood-inundation maps which can aid in planning, flood rescue operations, and flood recovery.

During high flow and potential flooding, the public has access to high flow and flood information at over 170 streamgages in Kansas that are monitored in real-time at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ks/nwis/rt/. Another tool for tracking floods is Waterwatch, a real-time streamflow interactive national map that tracks short-term changes (over several hours) in rivers and streams. This map is further enhanced for flood information by accessing the streamgages to see a station summary, USGS hydrograph (which provides past river height and flow data), and the NOAA Forecast Hydrograph (which provides a forecast of what the river is expected to do in the near future using USGS data). This information is found at http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/, by accessing the flood page, and selecting Floods and High Flow from Current Maps box (see next page).

FLOOD FACTS:

· More than half of all fatalities during floods are auto related, usually the result of drivers misjudging the depth of water on a road and the force of moving water. A car can float in just a few inches of water. http://www.floodsafety.noaa.gov/tadd.shtml

· Although loss of life to floods during the past half-century has declined, mostly because of improved infrastructure and warning systems, economic losses have continued to rise due to increased urbanization and coastal development.

· In Kansas, the 1951 flood caused several deaths and billions of dollars in property damage.

· The 1993 Midwest flooding was the costliest river-related flood in history, at $20 billion.

In the late summer of 2005, the remarkable flooding brought by Hurricane Katrina, which caused more than $200 billion in losses, constituted the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

· Six persons lost their lives in a flash flood on August 30, 2003, at Jacob Creek culvert on I-35 near Emporia.

For more information about flood safety access the following websites:

USGS Kansas Water Science Center-- http://ks.water.usgs.gov/

USGS Kansas Flood Information Page--- http://ks.water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/flood/index.shtml

NOAA-- http://www.floodsafety.noaa.gov/

During Flood Safety Week, you can interview Charlie Perry about flood safety and other flood related topics. Please contact Donita Turk, Public Affairs Coordinator, 785-832-3570, to schedule your interview.