Using GIS Tools to Compare Hurricane Matthew and Irma Impacts to Florida Matt Adams and Dr

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Using GIS Tools to Compare Hurricane Matthew and Irma Impacts to Florida Matt Adams and Dr Using GIS Tools to Compare Hurricane Matthew and Irma Impacts to Florida Matt Adams and Dr. Chris Herbster Meteorology, Applied Aviation Sciences Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Irma Florida is prone to experiencing the impacts of hurricanes that have formed in the Atlantic Basin. This project provides a detailed analysis of the impacts of To the right, the progression of To the left, the progression of hurricanes Irma and Matthew with heavy reliance on Geographic Information the forecasted storm surge the forecasted storm surge Systems (GIS) software such as QGIS and the Integrated Data Viewer (IDV). inundation can be seen, with inundation can be seen, with Through data archives from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), and National white being 5 feet or more and white being 5 feet or more and Data Buoy Center (NDBC), and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the dark gray being 1 foot. dark gray being 1 foot. sea surface temperature (SST), storm surge, and buoy data were analyzed. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew formed on Flooding due to storm surge in the th USGS gage height for locations in St. Augustine historical district on September 28 in map below. Oval indicates original October 7, 2016 pictured to the the Caribbean and storm surge, additional rise is due to right. rapidly intensified to inland precipitation. category 5 strength. The storm narrowly missed the east coast of the Florida Peninsula as a category 4 hurricane on October 7th. Prior to Irma’s arrival in the Tampa Bay area, northerly winds pushed water out of the northern During the 2017 season, Irma part of the bay. This phenomena was also experienced in parts of the Bahamas as the storm formed on August 30th in the mid- approached the Florida Keys Atlantic. As the storm approached Storm surge seen in USGS gages near the East the Eastern Caribbean, it achieved th Coast while a suppressed high tide was category 5 strength by September 5 experienced in the North Tampa Bay area due to and became the second longest strong northerly flow. storm to retain winds above 156 mph. On the morning of September 10th, Irma made landfall at Cudjoe Key, FL and continued along a northward track through the state. USGS gage in north Tampa Bay The image on the left was captured shown above. Notice the 6 foot drop at about 8 AM on September 8, in water level prior to storm surge. 2017. Northerly flow (right) depicted at the same time as the picture above. Resources: Buoy in the Caribbean Sea that the storm passed nearly directly over National Hurricane Center, 2018: NHC Data in GIS Formats. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gis/ USGS, 2018: USGS Surface-Water Historical Instantaneous Data for the Nation. A similar effect was showing a near textbook relationship between central pressure, wind https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv/?referred_module=sw seen at Long Island, speed and near calm eye conditions. National Centers for Environmental Protection, 2018: NOAA Operational Model Archive and Distribution Bahamas (left). Center. http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov National Data Buoy Center, 2018. http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov • a-b: Cold water wake References: • a-b: SST cooling in circled between Cuba and Unidata, (2018): Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) version 5.4 [software]. Boulder, CO: UCAR/Unidata. area (orange) as storm the Bahamas (https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/) passes (orange) as the NASA, 2017. Geocolor Image of Hurricane Irma. https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/ • c-d: significant cooling, storm passes geocolor-image-of-hurricane-irma likely upwelling, on the • c-d: SST cooling on NASA, 2016. Hurricane Matthew. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/ south shore of Cuba (red) matthew-atlantic-ocean the south shore of @deejayeasya, 2017. http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/ due to strong offshore Cuba (red) article172426122.html flow • c-d: further surface NBC Miami, 2016: Hurricane Matthew Floods Homeless Housing in Historic St. Augustine. • c-d: cooling between cooling in the https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Hurricane-Matthew-Floods-Homeless-Housing-in-Historic-St- Cuba and the Bahamas Bahamas (magenta) Augustine-398739921.html (magenta) QGIS Development Team (2018). QGIS Geographic Information System. Open Source Geospatial Foundation Project. http://qgis.osgeo.org.
Recommended publications
  • Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery and Resilience Initiative ______
    HURRICANE MATTHEW DISASTER RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE INITIATIVE ______________ A project of the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory Gavin Smith, PhD, AICP Project Director _________________ September 11, 2017 Progress Report Hurricane Matthew Disaster Recovery and Resilience Initiative Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2 A. Background ......................................................................................................................................... 2 B. Objectives ........................................................................................................................................... 2 C. Activities ............................................................................................................................................. 2 D. Organizational Structure .................................................................................................................... 4 Leveraging State and Federal Resources ..................................................................................................... 7 Executive Summaries of Project Reports .................................................................................................... 8 A. Home Place ......................................................................................................................................... 8 B. Affordable Housing ..........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Hurricane Irma Storm Review
    Hurricane Irma Storm Review November 11, 2018 At Duke Energy Florida, we power more than 4 million lives Service territory includes: . Service to 1.8 million retail customers in 35 counties . 13,000 square miles . More than 5,100 miles of transmission lines and 32,000 miles of distribution lines . Owns and operates nearly 9,500 MWs of generating capacity . 76.2% gas, 21% coal, 3% renewable, 0.2%oil, 2,400 MWs Purchased Power. 2 Storm Preparedness Activities Operational preparation is a year-round activity Coordination with County EOC Officials . Transmission & Distribution Systems Inspected and . Structured Engagement and Information Maintained Sharing Before, During and After Hurricane . Storm Organizations Drilled & Prepared . Coordination with county EOC priorities . Internal and External Resource Needs Secured . Public Communications and Outreach . Response Plan Tested and Continuously Improved Storm Restoration Organization Transmission Hurricane Distribution System Preparedness System Local Governmental Coordination 3 Hurricane Irma – Resources & Logistics Resources . 12,528 Total Resources . 1,553 pre-staged in Perry, Georgia . 91 line and vegetation vendors from 25 states . Duke Energy Carolinas and Midwest crews as well as resources from Texas, New York, Louisiana, Colorado, Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Maine and Canada . 26 independent basecamps, parking/staging sites Mutual Assistance . Largest mobilization in DEF history . Mutual Assistance Agreements, executed between DEF and other utilities, ensure that resources can be timely dispatched and fairly apportioned. Southeastern Electric Exchange coordinates Mutual Assistance 4 5. Individual homes RESTORATION 3. Critical Infrastructure 2. Substations 1. Transmission Lines 4. High-density neighborhoods 5 Hurricane Irma- Restoration Irma’s track northward up the Florida peninsula Restoration Summary resulted in a broad swath of hurricane and tropical Customers Peak Customers Outage storm force winds.
    [Show full text]
  • Historic Rainfall and Record-Breaking Flooding from Hurricane Florence in the Pee Dee Watershed
    Journal of South Carolina Water Resources, Volume 6, Issue 1, Pages 28–35, 2019 Historic Rainfall and Record-Breaking Flooding from Hurricane Florence in the Pee Dee Watershed MELISSA GRIFFIN1, MARK MALSICK1, HOPE MIZZELL1, AND LEAH MOORE1 AUTHORS: 1SC State Climatology Office, SC Department of Natural Resources, 1000 Assembly Street Columbia, SC 29201 . KEYWORDS: Florence, flooding, average return intervals, rainfall, ARI . With the advancements of software packages and data visualization, much of the analysis and information on the impact and historical perspective of the rainfall from Tropical Storm Florence included in our online ERSI Story Map is not viable to translate into the print format standards required by many publications. However, with the newly enacted Journal of South Carolina Resources policy, our article creates a precedent in how the Journal will address submittals that include subject matter available on the internet, by permanently archiving the information, and applying a structured peer-review process to the content. Abstract. For the third time in four years, record-breaking flooding occurred in South Carolina. Hurricane Florence, which made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, on September 14, 2018, moved slowly across South Carolina from September 14–17, 2018. Over those four days, heavy rain fell over portions of the Pee Dee Watershed and eastern North Carolina, with over 30 inches of rain measured by an observer in Swansboro, North Carolina. Most of the excessive rainfall was confined to the Pee Dee region, with reported totals of over 24 inches in Horry County, while closer to the Savannah River Valley observers measured less than an inch of rain.
    [Show full text]
  • Volusia County Hurricane Irma Flood Warning Program Evaluation Report
    Volusia County Hurricane Irma Flood Warning Program Evaluation Report Synopsis Hurricane Irma formed from an African Easterly Wave, more commonly known as tropical waves. It became a tropical storm on August 30 about 420 miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands in the far eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean, and quickly attained hurricane status on August 31st while still in the far eastern Atlantic about 650 miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands. Irma continued to gradually strengthen over the next several days as it tracked generally westward across the tropical Atlantic By the time Hurricane Irma struck Barbuda in the northern Leeward Islands around 2 A.M. on Wednesday, September 6, it was a Category 5 hurricane with 185 mph winds. Five hours later, the eye of Irma moved over St. Martin, still with 185 mph winds, while the northern eyewall pounded Anguilla. That afternoon, Irma cut a path directly through the British Virgin Islands. After the southern eyewall raked St. Thomas, Puerto Rico was largely spared as the center passed about 45 miles north of San Juan. Hurricane conditions did occur on Puerto Rico’s northeastern coast. Still a Category 5, Irma impacted portions of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas. From Friday evening September 8th through Saturday afternoon September 9th, Irma moved along the northern coast of Cuba. Interaction with land caused Irma to weaken from a Category 5 to a Category 3 before it began to pull away from the northern coast of Cuba late Saturday afternoon. On Sunday morning, September 10th, Irma strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane as it accelerated toward the Florida Keys.
    [Show full text]
  • Assessing Natural and Mechanical Dune Performance in a Post-Hurricane Environment
    Journal of Marine Science and Engineering Article Assessing Natural and Mechanical Dune Performance in a Post-Hurricane Environment Jean T. Ellis * and Mayra A. Román-Rivera Department of Geography, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 1 April 2019; Accepted: 29 April 2019; Published: 2 May 2019 Abstract: The purpose of this study is to document the geomorphic evolution of a mechanical dune over approximately one year following its installation and compare it to the recovery of a natural dune following the impact of Hurricane Matthew (2016). During the study period, the dunes’ integrity was tested by wave and wind events, including king tides, and a second hurricane (Irma, 2017), at the end of the study period. Prior to the impact of the second hurricane, the volumetric increase of the mechanical and natural dune was 32% and 75%, respectively, suggesting that scraping alone is not the optimal protection method. If scraping is employed, we advocate that the dune should be augmented by planting. Ideally, the storm-impacted dune should naturally recover. Post-storm vegetation regrowth was lower around the mechanical dune, which encouraged aeolian transport and dune deflation. Hurricane Irma, an extreme forcing event, substantially impacted the dunes. The natural dune was scarped and the mechanical dune was overtopped; the system was essentially left homogeneous following the hurricane. The results from this study question the current practice of sand scraping along the South Carolina coast, which occurs post-storm, emplacement along the former primary dune line, and does not include the planting of vegetation.
    [Show full text]
  • Hurricane Irma Meteorological Records
    Hurricane Irma Meteorological Records/Notable Facts Recap Intensity/Day Measures - 185 mph lifetime max winds – tied with Florida Keys (1935), Gilbert (1988) and Wilma (2005) for second strongest max winds of all time in Atlantic hurricane. Allen had max winds of 190 mph in 1980 - 185 mph lifetime max winds – the strongest storm to exist in the Atlantic Ocean outside of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico on record - 185 mph max winds for 37 hours – the longest any cyclone around the globe has maintained that intensity on record. The previous record was Haiyan in the NW Pacific at 24 hours - 914 mb lifetime minimum central pressure – lowest in the Atlantic since Dean (2007) and 10th lowest in satellite era (since 1966) - 914 mb lifetime minimum central pressure – lowest pressure by an Atlantic hurricane outside of the western Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico on record - First Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic since Matthew (2016) and first Category 5 hurricane in the tropical Atlantic (7.5-20°N, 60-20°W) since Hugo (1989) - 3.25 day lifetime as a Category 5 hurricane – tied with Cuba (1932) for longest lifetime as Category 5 in Atlantic - 3 consecutive days as a Category 5 hurricane – the longest for an Atlantic hurricane in the satellite era (since 1966) - 12.75 named storm days – the most since Nicole (2016) and tied for 23rd most in satellite era for the Atlantic - 11.25 hurricane days – the most since Ivan (2004) and tied for 9th most in satellite era (since 1966) for the Atlantic – satellite-era record is Ginger (1971) with a whopping 19.5 hurricane days - 8.50 major hurricane days – the 2nd most in satellite era (since 1966) for the Atlantic – trailing Ivan (2004).
    [Show full text]
  • HURRICANE IRMA (AL112017) 30 August–12 September 2017
    NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORT HURRICANE IRMA (AL112017) 30 August–12 September 2017 John P. Cangialosi, Andrew S. Latto, and Robbie Berg National Hurricane Center 1 24 September 2021 VIIRS SATELLITE IMAGE OF HURRICANE IRMA WHEN IT WAS AT ITS PEAK INTENSITY AND MADE LANDFALL ON BARBUDA AT 0535 UTC 6 SEPTEMBER. Irma was a long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that reached category 5 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The catastrophic hurricane made seven landfalls, four of which occurred as a category 5 hurricane across the northern Caribbean Islands. Irma made landfall as a category 4 hurricane in the Florida Keys and struck southwestern Florida at category 3 intensity. Irma caused widespread devastation across the affected areas and was one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic basin. 1 Original report date 9 March 2018. Second version on 30 May 2018 updated casualty statistics for Florida, meteorological statistics for the Florida Keys, and corrected a typo. Third version on 30 June 2018 corrected the year of the last category 5 hurricane landfall in Cuba and corrected a typo in the Casualty and Damage Statistics section. This version corrects the maximum wind gust reported at St. Croix Airport (TISX). Hurricane Irma 2 Hurricane Irma 30 AUGUST–12 SEPTEMBER 2017 SYNOPTIC HISTORY Irma originated from a tropical wave that departed the west coast of Africa on 27 August. The wave was then producing a widespread area of deep convection, which became more concentrated near the northern portion of the wave axis on 28 and 29 August.
    [Show full text]
  • Natural Disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean
    NATURAL DISASTERS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 2000 - 2019 1 Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the second most disaster-prone region in the world 152 million affected by 1,205 disasters (2000-2019)* Floods are the most common disaster in the region. Brazil ranks among the 15 548 On 12 occasions since 2000, floods in the region have caused more than FLOODS S1 in total damages. An average of 17 23 C 5 (2000-2019). The 2017 hurricane season is the thir ecord in terms of number of disasters and countries affected as well as the magnitude of damage. 330 In 2019, Hurricane Dorian became the str A on STORMS record to directly impact a landmass. 25 per cent of earthquakes magnitude 8.0 or higher hav S America Since 2000, there have been 20 -70 thquakes 75 in the region The 2010 Haiti earthquake ranks among the top 10 EARTHQUAKES earthquak ory. Drought is the disaster which affects the highest number of people in the region. Crop yield reductions of 50-75 per cent in central and eastern Guatemala, southern Honduras, eastern El Salvador and parts of Nicaragua. 74 In these countries (known as the Dry Corridor), 8 10 in the DROUGHTS communities most affected by drought resort to crisis coping mechanisms. 66 50 38 24 EXTREME VOLCANIC LANDSLIDES TEMPERATURE EVENTS WILDFIRES * All data on number of occurrences of natural disasters, people affected, injuries and total damages are from CRED ME-DAT, unless otherwise specified. 2 Cyclical Nature of Disasters Although many hazards are cyclical in nature, the hazards most likely to trigger a major humanitarian response in the region are sudden onset hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes and flash floods.
    [Show full text]
  • Loss Avoidance Report Hurricane Matthew
    Appendix R: LAR Hurricane Matthew 2018 State Hazard Mitigation Plan _______________________________________________________________________________________ APPENDIX R: Loss Avoidance Report Hurricane Matthew _______________________________________________________________________________________ Florida Division of Emergency Management Loss Avoidance Assessment Hurricane Matthew (DR-4283) April 2017 Florida Division of Emergency Management 2555 Shumard Oak Boulevard Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100 http://www.floridadisaster.org Rick Scott, Governor Bryan Koon, Director Florida DivisionMiles of Anderson, Emergency ManaStategement Hazard – Bureau Mitigation of Mitigation Officer {This page left intentionally blank.} Florida State Emergency Response Team Matthew Loss Avoidance Assessment Draft 04242017 Page i | Loss Avoidance Assessment: Hurricane Matthew (DR-4283) CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 0 INTRODUCTION TO HAZARD MITIGATION & LOSS AVOIDANCE ASSESSMENTS .. 1 An Introduction to Hazard Mitigation ...........................................................................1 The Hazard Mitigation Process ................................................................................... 3 Loss Avoidance Process Overview ............................................................................4 Previous Loss Avoidance Assessments ..................................................................... 7 EVENT DETAILS .............................................................................................................8
    [Show full text]
  • Hurricane Irma At-A-Glance
    2018 FEDERAL POLICY BRIEF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: HELP FLORIDA RECOVER AND REBUILD HURRICANE IRMA AT-A-GLANCE The following is an excerpt taken from FAC’s 2017 Hurricane Summit Program which was held in November of 2017 to review and assess the impacts of Hurricane Irma and identify a path to recovery for Florida’s counties. For more information on the data depicted in the following infographs please contact: Eric Poole at [email protected],Casey Perkins at [email protected] or Robert Brown at [email protected] Florida Association of Counties ∙ 100 South Monroe Street ∙ Tallahassee, Florida 32301 ∙ www.fl-counties.com Hurricane Evacuation: Lessons Learned and What You Need to Know (continued) Hurricane Irma was the most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history. By multiple accounts, the storm was also directly responsible for the largest mass exodus in U.S. history, with nearly 7 million people across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina being asked to evacuate their homes. According to Florida’s Department of Emergency Management (DEM), nearly 6.8 million Floridians evacuated their homes in the lead up to Hurricane Irma, “beating 2005’s Houston-area Hurricane Rita exit by millions.” Media outlets described police going door to door “telling people to leave to avoid life-threatening rains, winds, and flooding,” as well as “large traffic jams on Interstates 95 and 75 and the Florida Turnpike.” Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration reported that Miami’s traffic controllers handled 11,500 flights on the Thursday before the storm compared to 8,800 one week prior.
    [Show full text]
  • Preliminary Hurricane Irma Post-Storm Beach Conditions And
    Preliminary Hurricane Irma Post-Storm Beach Conditions and Coastal Impact Report Division of Water Resource Management Florida Department of Environmental Protection October 2017 Florida Department of Environmental Protection Preliminary Hurricane Irma Postal-Storm Beach Conditions and Coastal Impact Report Table of Contents I. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 2 II. Hurricane Irma: August 30 – September 15, 2017 ........................................................................ 4 III. Hurricane Irma Impact Summary and Overview ..................................................................... 11 Table 1. Beach and Dune Erosion Summary. ........................................................................................ 11 Table 2. Summary of Major Structural Damage to Major Structures by Hurricane Irma along the Coast of Peninsula Florida (Florida Keys not included). ......................................... 16 Table 3. Summary of Coastal Armoring Damage Caused by Hurricane Irma. ..................................... 17 IV. Detailed Damage Assessment by County .................................................................................... 18 St. Johns County .................................................................................................................................... 19 Flagler County ......................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Bonaire National Marine Park Hurricane Matthew – Reef Damage Assessment
    Bonaire National Marine Park Hurricane Matthew – Reef Damage Assessment On the evening of the 29th September 2016 Hurricane Matthew passed north of Bonaire by approximately 240km, with maximum sustained wind speeds over 120km/h. After passing Aruba as a category 2 hurricane, the path of Matthew slowed its forward progress and turned north-northeast. Heavy storm surge generated by Matthew continued to strike the coastline and on the 4th-5th of October, a resurgence of waves ranging from 1.4-1.7 m height pounded the northern and western (leeward) shores of Bonaire and Klein Bonaire. After the waves subsided, STINAPA immediately sent survey forms to dive operators requesting information on reef conditions and offered assistance in removing large debris. Bonaire National Marine Park rangers took photos of damage to piers, docks, ladders, etc. and began removing large debris from the reef (Appendix II: Image 7). On the 6th to 7th of October 2016, STINAPA staff, interns and volunteers surveyed sites along the leeward shore of Bonaire to assess the initial impact of Hurricane Matthew. Fig 1. Path of Hurricane Matthew. Image from NOAA’s National Hurricane Center: Matthew Graphics Archive. KONSERVANDO NATURALESA PA MEDIO DI MANEHO SANO NATUUR BEHOUD DOOR VERANTWOORD BEHEER NATURE CONSERVATION THROUGH SOUND MANAGEMENT PO Box 368 – Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean – Tel (599) 717 8444 – Fax (599) 717 7318 – E-mail [email protected] - Website: www.stinapa.org Banks: MCB acc.nr. 868.420.00 – RBC acc.nr. 8400000023068753 Methods Surveyors assessed a total of 18 sites via SCUBA in buddy teams on 6-7 Oct. 2016.
    [Show full text]