AGENCY TESTIMONY
NYC's Flash Flood Emergency Plan and its evolution
0:06:56
ยท
73 sec
The testimony outlines the development and improvement of New York City's Flash Flood Emergency Plan since its initial release in 2009. It highlights the recent enhancements made to the plan, especially following major flood events in 2021 and 2023.
- Describes the implementation of a risk-based and scaled approach in the plan
- Mentions the incorporation of stormwater resiliency maps and chronic flood location monitoring
- Highlights the use of advanced technologies like the flood sensor network (FloodNet) for real-time flood information
Heather Roiter
0:06:56
The city first released its flash flood emergency plan in 2009, which is the most activated of our emergency plans.
0:07:03
Throughout the years, emergency managements made improvements in our response strategies in addressing flood risk, especially following the catastrophic events of post tropical storm Ida in 2021 and the September 2023 flash flood event.
0:07:16
This includes an embedded meteorologist within our agency, the hiring of a 3rd party weather vendor to supplement our coordination with the National Weather Service, and revamping the flash flood emergency plan to have a risk based and scaled approach.
0:07:30
The flash flood emergency plan has expanded its risk based strategies by incorporating the city's stormwater resiliency maps for targeted catch basin cleaning, monitoring chronic flood locations, dewatering operations, disseminating public information and travel advisories, augmenting executive decision making through city leadership coordination calls, and utilizing and supporting the advancement of the city's flood sensor network flood net to give us real time flood information.
0:07:59
This risk based approach allows the city to adjust its response to address common events that can cause nuisance flooding to scaling our operations for the more severe events.