DEVELOPING FLOOD MAPS FOR COASTAL RESILIENCE IN CHARLESTON COUNTY AND IN NORTH CHARLESTON NEIGHBORHOODS

Rubin, Nicholas

DEVELOPING FLOOD MAPS FOR COASTAL RESILIENCE IN CHARLESTON COUNTY AND IN NORTH CHARLESTON NEIGHBORHOODS

Authors

Rubin, Nicholas

Abstract

Charleston County and the City of North Charleston will experience increasingly severe flooding due to climate change in the coming century. Modeling potential flooding extents caused by sea level rise, riverine flooding, and extreme precipitation can be used by local municipal and community decision makers to protect both people and property. Flooding models using a one-meter digital elevation raster, hydrologic soil groups, impervious surface areas, and designed storms were created in ArcGIS across multiple scales (county and neighborhood) and for multiple recurrence intervals to show the likely extent of flooding for the neighborhoods represented by the Lowcountry Alliance for Model Communities (LAMC). Intersecting these modelled floods with U.S. Census block groups and FEMA designated critical facilities shows the potential risk and where community, city, and county can most effectively mitigate the hazard.