The Northwest Wisconsin Flood Impact Study includes the counties of Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Sawyer and Washburn of which were declared in the 2016 federal disaster declaration DR-4276.
In recognition of the importance of planning in mitigation activities, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) created HAZUS, a powerful geographic information system (GIS)-based disaster mitigation tool that is coupled with ESRI ArcGIS Desktop. NWRPC prepared a Level 2 (customized) flood inundation analysis for the affected counties which demonstrates the potential impacts of historic flood events, pre-identified likely impact areas and assesses the economic impacts to communities, businesses, and residents.The study focuses on building community economic resiliency through a broad range of strategies and mechanisms needed to reduce risk and vulnerability.
This study was funded through the Economic Development Administration (EDA) with matching funds provided by NWRPC and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). As a part of the project closeout, Northwest Regional Planning Commission staff will be hosting presentations in each of the counties to provide an overview of the project and demonstrate how to access the process study results and process model.
View the press release containing meeting dates, locations, and times for all seven counties.
View the Northwest Wisconsin Flood Impact Presentation
View the Northwest Wisconsin Flood Impact Study (~120 MB)
100 and 500-Year Flood Event Web Map Applications
As a component of the project, web mapping capability was developed to allow viewing the results of the NWRPC’s analysis. The Web mapping application provides users with access to nearly all of the data developed in this project, including:
- Hazus derived Flood Depth (100-year and 500-year flood events).
- Occupancy classified building footprints within ¼ mile of the Hazus flood boundary, with corresponding structural and content losses.
- Location of critical facilities/infrastructure within the study region.
- Impacted road segments, due to flood event.
- Probable culvert locations (derived using liDAR and USDA Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework software).
The web map application functionality includes several widgets allowing the users to add their own spatial/tabular data to the map, make measurements, change basemaps (e.g. aerial photos, topography, street maps), print, search for specific locations or addresses, and share the map on social media (or embed in their own websites). A user guide was also developed for people unfamiliar with use of a web-based mapping application.
Web Map User Guide
https://www.nwrpc.com/DocumentCenter/View/1491
100-Year Flood Event Map Viewer
http://nwrpcmaps.nwrpc.com/edaflood100/
500-Year Flood Event Map Viewer
http://nwrpcmaps.nwrpc.com/edaflood500/