Transcript Slide 1

Cooperative Efforts in Nashville Flood
Preparedness
Jamie G. James, P.E.
Water Resources Section
Nashville District, USACE
July 2011
US Army Corps of Engineers
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In May 2010 portions of Tennessee experienced
flooding of unprecedented magnitude. Damage was
widespread in the region, and the city of Nashville was
particularly hard-hit. Public agencies scrambled to
stay ahead of the disaster and prevent more severe
flooding and loss of life.
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For Comparison:
Recorded Floods at Nashville
70
60
50
40
Stage @
Nashville
30
20
10
2010
1984
1975
1927
1793
0
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Cumberland River in Nashville
May 2010 Flood Inundation
Downtown
Pennington Bend/Opryland
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In The Beginning:
 The Nashville work began as a result of realized
shortcomings during the flood of May 2010.
► Communication
Between Agencies
► Understanding Data and Wider Implications
► Flood Warning and Response
 All were determined to learn and improve
readiness.
 Discussions began in August 2010
► Metro
Nashville Government
► Nashville District, USACE
► National Weather Service
► U.S. Geological Survey
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The Concept:
 Work as a broad-based team to a common goal.
 Control the things under our control.
 Support Metro EMS and leaders.
► Prevent
loss of life, reduce damage
 Use each agency’s strengths.
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USACE – Hydrologic and hydraulic modeling
Metro – GIS mapping and automation
NWS – Flood warning
USGS – Gaging and data
 Develop products & applications to provide Metro
officials with timely information.
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Challenges
 Ongoing national level efforts to organize
(IWRSS), but the framework had not been set.
 This is one of the first-of-its-type efforts on this
scale.
 Scaling the scope of work .
► Needs,
Time, Budget
 Ensuring a common understanding of the goals,
technical abilities and products.
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Opportunities
 We could work within the regulations of the
respective agencies to craft a product that was
tailored to Nashville.
 Previous work around the streams and gaging
network gave us a head start.
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Project Team
Nashville
District
Metro Nashville
National
Weather Service
U.S. Geologic
Survey
Study Manager
Team Leaders
Local Staff
Local Staff
5 Engineers
Stormwater
Division
GIS Specialist
Watershed
Advisors
Technicians
AMEC
Interest and Support of Higher Organizational Levels
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Process
 Bi-weekly meetings to discuss progress and
issues that arose.
 Constant communication regarding technical
issues.
 Concentrated on Six Streams in the first phase:
Cumberland River, Harpeth River, Mill Creek,
Richland Creek, Browns Creek, Whites Creek.
 Keep the scope manageable within the time and
budget constraints. We could always do more
later.
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Goals
 Develop products that will provide Metro
Emergency Services and decision makers with
the capability to estimate flooding impacts in
time to take early action.
 Look at flooding extent and timing.
 Effectively utilize limited resources to greatest
effect during an emergency.
 Leverage local and federal dollars to provide the
best capability possible, and build upon that
later.
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Study Area
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Increasing Understanding:
Cumberland River Stages Referenced from the Nashville Gage (Datum, 368.1)
Based on May 2010 Profiles
Depicts corresponding stages at other locations for referenced stages at the Nashville Gage.
65.0
60.0
55.0
50.0
45.0
Major
40.0
Moderate
35.0
Flood
Action
30.0
No Action
OHP Tailwater
K.R. Harrington
U/S Lock Two Rd
Briley @ Pennington
D/s Opry Mills
Omohundro
Nashville Gage
Titans Stadium
U/S Metro Cen
D/S Metro Cen
Harpeth Valley UD
25.0
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Added Functions:
 Additional Gages on the Cumberland River and
Mill Creek (USGS and Metro).
 Review of Forecast Points and Flood Warning
Levels (NWS and Metro).
 Watershed Advisors for Each Stream (Metro).
 Flood Inundation GIS Layers for Each Stream
Tied to Forecast Stages (USACE and Metro).
 Watershed Advisors Guides for each stream
(AMEC).
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Nashville District Work
 Modeling and Mapping of the Six Streams for
Metro GIS.
► Cumberland
River, Harpeth River
► Mill Creek, Browns Creek, Richland Creek, Whites
Creek
 Utilization of Available Geospatial Data
(GeoHMS and GeoRAS, ArcMap).
 Model Multiple Storms to Prepare Inundation
Layers.
 Provide AMEC with model results and timing for
use in Watershed Advisors Guides.
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Nashville District Work (2)
 There were existing models for the Cumberland
River, Mill Creek and Richland Creek.
► Updated/calibrated
to meet the needs of the study.
 Utilization of available geospatial data (GeoHMS
and GeoRAS, ArcMap, DEM).
 We prepared HMS and RAS models of the
Harpeth River, Whites Creek and Browns Creek
basins.
► Calibrated
to known events and May 2010 where
possible.
► Historic records and current high water marks.
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Nashville District Work (3)
 Modeled multiple storms to prepare inundation
layers.
► HEC-HMS
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Used GEO-HMS to collect basin data
Calibrated to historic rainfall
1-11 inch, 24-hour rainfall
Type II distribution
► HEC-RAS
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Used GEO-RAS to collect cross section and alignment data
Calibrated to historic floods
Compared to historic HEC-2 and RAS models
Inventoried bridges in the field and obtained TDOT plans
where possible
• Steady flow
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Nashville Flood Preparedness
Inundation Products
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Results
 Additional stream gages allow Metro to monitor river
conditions at critical infrastructure.
 New GIS layers provide Metro emergency personnel with
inundation approximations tied to forecasts, helping to
allocate resources and assist with timely evacuations.
 Metro GIS Specialists developed an interactive tool to
illustrate inundation based on forecasts and layers.
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Public access will be determined by Metro.
 Watershed Advisors’ Guides provide information to help stay
ahead of the flood.
 Phase II is underway.
 The flood preparedness tools will continue to evolve.
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Flood Damage Analysis
HEC-RTS
 Phase III is being planned.
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HEC-RTS (Real-Time Simulation)
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HEC-RTS
 Provides a real-time simulation capability.
 RTS is proposed for the Cheatham Reach of the
Cumberland River, which includes Nashville.
 Joins the hydrologic and hydraulic models to allow
simulations of basin rainfall response and estimation of
stages at the flow prediction points identified in the
model.
 Prepared by USACE for Metro, to be reviewed by, and
made available to, NWS.
 Scoping meeting was July 19.
 Delivery is planned for next spring.
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How can these efforts be applied in
other locations?
 One product does not fit every community. We developed
this work with scalability, portability and adaptability in
mind.
 If a flood-prone community has GIS capability, we can
duplicate this work for their streams, on their system.
 If a flood-prone community does not have GIS, we can
create paper maps to illustrate the flood inundation levels.
 In either case, new gages can be installed to monitor
streams near critical infrastructure.
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Automated warnings can be applied.
 A Flood Warning and Emergency Evacuation Plan can be
developed to help with critical decisions during flood
emergencies.
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If you have questions regarding USACE programs:
 Contact:
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Trena Bradshaw – District Outreach Coordinator
• [email protected]
• 615-736-7191
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Phyllis Kohl – Floodplain Management Services Program
• [email protected]
• 615-736-5948
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Questions?
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