Florida Sea Grant and Companions Put together Panhandle Communities for Flood Dangers – Cyber Tech

Does your neighborhood expertise flooding? Coastal communities face the compound menace of storm surges, excessive rainfall, and rising sea ranges. Florida Sea Grant and companions might help.

Revolutionary know-how meets coastal resilience in a latest partnership between Florida Sea Grant, Florida Atlantic College (FAU), and the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Affiliation (SECOORA). Florida Sea Grant specialists are working with native municipalities, estuary applications, and communities within the placement of water stage sensors in 7-counties throughout the Florida Panhandle. The water stage sensors can be put in by FAU, with funding help from SECOORA.

Water stage sensors sit above the water and measure the space from the water to the sensor. The peak of the water is collected and relayed in real-time for entry in your cellphone, at residence, or within the workplace. The sensors will assist determine present and projected flood susceptibility hotspots based mostly on precipitation-based flooding and permit communities to customise a notification system for alerts when the flooding threshold is exceeded, equivalent to when the roads begin to flood.

The sensors might be programmed to measure extra parameters equivalent to wind, saltwater, humidity, and dew level. This data might help native residents and emergency managers and improve the security and resilience of the neighborhood.

Mary Gutierrez, the Florida Sea Grant Neighborhood Engagement Specialist, is working to determine and make sure optimum water stage sensor websites based mostly on watershed areas, geographic options, and accessibility for set up. The seven designated counties embrace Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, and Franklin.

“It is very important be geographically consultant of all Panhandle communities. Close to sea stage rise, we see flooding in coastal areas, however we’re additionally experiencing flooding within the northern elements of counties for different causes,” says Gutierrez.

The knowledge gathered from the water stage sensors can be viewable on the SECOORA information portal. Entry to information will enable communities to determine and start planning future mitigation and adaptation tasks, meet present administration plan targets, and probably be used to safe funding by means of grants and different applications to deal with potential flooding points. Portal entry help and coaching can be out there in 2024.

“We’re extremely excited that this established program is now being carried out within the Florida Panhandle,” says Gutierrez. “This system not solely supplies communities and neighborhood leaders with helpful data on find out how to deal with water-related considerations, nevertheless it additionally permits the residents of those communities to turn out to be actively engaged.”

Three websites have been confirmed for set up in December together with:

• Cessna Park, Walton County
• Lions Park in Niceville, Okaloosa County
• Sylvania Heights and W.E. Combs Neighborhood in Fort Walton Seaside, Okaloosa County

Media Contacts
Mary Gutierrez, Neighborhood Engagement Specialist, Florida Sea Grant School Program, mgutierrez3@ufl.edu or 850.549.7472.
Laura Tiu, County Extension Director, Florida Sea Grant Agent, College of Florida IFAS Extension Walton County, lgtiu@ufl.edu