County OEM Unveils System to Aid Flood Awareness

STONE HARBOR – The Cape May County Office of Emergency Management recently unveiled a new flood risk mapping system. 
The system will allow residents and visitors to map the real flood risk on local streets when considering the potential impact of weather alerts. The system is accessible through the OEM link on the county website. 
Stone Harbor Borough Council saw a demonstration of the system at a Dec. 18 work session. Borough OEM Director J. T. Lakose showed the system’s ability to help interpret storm warnings, giving real neighborhood flood probabilities that correlate with weather forecasts.
The system uses Geographic Information System (GIS) data and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) flood gauge readings to provide a graphic depiction of probable flood levels over a period of days in response to a forecasted storm.
Lakose was able to use his address and watch the potential flooding expected from a predicted weather event. The graphic depiction used colors to indicate the severity and depth of flooding.
Freehold Director Gerald Thornton sees the system as something that “will allow residents and property owners to make the best decisions regarding their individual properties based on flood gauge and forecasts from the National Weather Service.”
The system starts by providing a dashboard with “near-real time readings of tidal gauges” and other data and forecasts from the NWS and NOAA. 
The county is then segmented in northern, central and southern regions, allowing a user to view inundation levels that are expected to be associated with a particular forecast.
One example is a user may wish to see the impact in a specific area of Stone Harbor in response to a forecasted moderate flooding event.
County OEM Director Martin Pagliughi sees the system as translating the “confusing language and estimates” into exact information the public can use.
The system not only shows the expected local impact of storm events, but it also can be used to simulate flooding based on various potential forecasts.
Since the system deals with warnings that can influence how property owners may decide to act concerning an impending storm event, disclaimers abound. 
The disclaimers warn that the system maps are based on three NOAA gauges and that not all local factors can be accommodated in the maps.
Encouraging all municipalities in the county to include a link to the system in their websites, Pagliughi cited the points that a community could gain in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Community Rating System.
The county website states that this is the first GIS-based flood modeling program implemented by any emergency management office in the state.
The system was presented to municipal officials Dec. 13. Plans call for a public presentation at an upcoming freeholder meeting.
The system is up on the website and available to the public although a formal public unveiling will not occur until sometime in the first quarter of 2019.
The program is sophisticated, and navigating it easily would require a user to gain some experience with it. It is a program that will potentially be of value to local governments and property owners.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.