Thank you for joining us in this brief overview of Streamline Technologies’ FloodWise Real-Time Flood Forecasting System, a tool to increase resiliency, reduce vulnerability, and save lives.
What if we could know several days in advance the precise locations of flooding, the depth of flooding, and the duration of flooding?
We asked this question to emergency management teams, first responders, public works officials, and stormwater managers, and here are just a few of their responses:
There are 3 major components of the FloodWiseTM Real-Time Flood Forecasting system.
The first component is a hydraulic engine that runs in the background 24/7, calculating flood levels and determining potential hot spots. This engine is powered by our flagship product, StormWiseTM, and has been used by thousands of engineers for over four decades. StormWiseTM is a proven technology and is accepted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Rainfall is the second component and is automatically retrieved by the FloodWiseTM system every hour and ingested by the hydrologic engine. Forecasted rainfall amounts are also automatically retrieved and are used to forecast flood levels several days in advance.
The third component is our outward-facing dashboard, which can be easily accessed via a web browser on phones, tablets, and PCs. This user-friendly dashboard allows emergency managers to interact with the FloodWiseTM system without being expert modelers or engineers.
Now, let’s look at a few examples:
The Orlo Vista neighborhood in Orange County, Florida, is in a landlocked depression and depends on a large pump station and man-made lake system for flood protection.
The pump station was overwhelmed by heavy rainfall during Hurricane Ian, resulting in over 100 flooded homes. The small colored circles represent individual homes and streets in the neighborhood and are referred to as Flood Risk PointsTM.
This forecast was issued two to three days before the actual flooding occurred and turned out to be quite accurate. The county issued an evacuation notice based on this forecast.
A new pump station and increased lake storage are currently under construction to prevent another severe flooding incident at this location, and FloodWiseTM will be used by pump operators for operational guidance.
A chart can also be generated from the dashboard at any Flood Risk PointTM. It provides information on when flooding is expected, how deep the flooding will be, and how long the flooding will last.
In the case of Orlo Vista, a two-day warning was provided before shallow flooding occurred, and a three-day warning was provided before maximum flood conditions occurred.
Rouse Road along the Little Econ River in Orange County, Florida, connects two major arterial roads: State Road 50 and University Boulevard.
It was overtopped and washed out by heavy Hurricane Ian rainfall. Ingress/egress for the 96-home University Acres subdivision was blocked for approximately two days due to deep flooding at its entrance. Numerous homes were flooded with more than two feet of water.
A master wastewater pump station was also flooded, causing over $7 million dollars in damage to date. Although the FloodWiseTM system was not in place at this location prior to Hurricane Ian, when tested afterwards, it was found that FloodWiseTM would have forecasted this flooding 36 hours in advance.
Two apartment complexes near Rouse Road, occupied predominantly by University of Central Florida students, were flooded during Hurricane Ian.
Deep flooding not only occurred in the buildings, but also in hundreds of cars experienced flood damage, resulting in millions of dollars in damage.
36 hours of advance notice would have been possible had the FloodWiseTM system been in place at the time.
The technology exists today to protect your communities.
Contact our team today to discover how FloodWiseTM forecasts flooding at the street, house, and critical infrastructure level several days in advance, empowering municipalities, emergency response teams, and flood management professionals with the data-driven intelligence needed to prepare for, mitigate, and recover from the impacts of flooding like never before.