FORMING MITIGATION PARTNERSHIPS

THE FOUNDING OF THE LOUISVILLE METRO SILVER

JACKETS TEAM

THE BEGINNING

• 2010 U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) performs periodic inspection of the Louisville Metro Flood Protection System.

• One of the recommendations from the inspection is the need for an Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP)

• 2013 MSD submits draft EPP to USACE

BACKGROUND• 2014 - Funding through a $75K grant from the Silver

Jackets was secured for an enhancement to the EPP

• This enhancement included modeling of failures in the in the flood protection system during a flood event.

• An I-Wall failure and a breech in levee were the chosen failures.

• The modeling of the surface flooding was performed.

• The need for a closer working relationship between USACE, MSD and Louisville Metro EMA was identified.

THE EXERCISE

• A breech in the levee at the end of Bells Lane during a 500 year flood event was used for the table top exercise.

• 19 local, state and federal agencies, as well as, private companies took part in the emergency exercise.

• If this scenario occurred, the devastation to Louisville Metro would be greater than what Hurricane Katrina was to New Orleans

TEST LEVEE FAILURE

DEVELOPING OF PARTNERSHIPS

• The need for a catastrophic urban flood plan had been previously been noted by the Commonwealth.

• Since the development of the plan would required several entities from the federal, state and local levels, as well as, from the private sector the Silver Jackets format was chosen to address this and other hazard mitigation issues in Louisville Metro.

The Silver Jackets

Each Silver Jackets team is unique, common agency participants include agencies with mission areas of hazard mitigation, emergency management, floodplain management, natural resources management or conservation, etc. Participation typically includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the emergency management agency and often others such as the National Weather Service and the U.S. Geological Survey

PROJECTS AND PARTICIPANTS

Catastrophic Urban Flooding Plan:

Build a response and mitigation frame work for catastrophic urban flooding. Once the framework is complete, it will be customized and tested for Louisville Metro, but it will be able to be used by other cities in the Commonwealth and neighboring states.

Organizations currently involved are MSD, Louisville Metro EMA, Kentucky EM, USACE, U S Coast Guard, NWS, Kentucky DOW, U S Department of Homeland Security, DOW Industries and Amec Foster Wheeler.

PROJECTS AND PARTICIPANTS

24-Hour Monitoring of High-Hazard Dams:

This will be a pilot project to set a monitor on one of the high hazard dames in Louisville Metro that will allow water elevations and velocities to be monitored on a continual basis, and automatically make notifications. We will be reaching out to private businesses that would be impacted by an over topping or failure of the dam to form a public-private partnership to accomplish this. Organizations currently involved in this are MSD, USGUS, Louisville Metro EMA and AECOM.

PROJECTS AND PARTICIPANTS

Flash Flooding Early Warning:

Using rain gauge information, develop mapping and modeling in Louisville Metro of areas that are often impacted by flash flooding. Once these areas are identified, place gauges in strategic locations that will monitor change in water elevation and velocity and automatically make notifications. Organizations currently involved in this are MSD, NWS, USGS and Louisville Metro EMA.

PROJECTS AND PARTICIPANTS

Notification of Flooded Viaducts:

Using MSD’s SCADA network, automatically make notifications when water is standing in the viaducts in the U of L area with pump stations. Organizations involved in this are MSD and Louisville Metro EMA.

PROJECTS AND PARTICIPANTS

MARPLOT Training:

MARPLOT’s easy-to-use GIS interface allows you to add objects to a map, as well as view and edit data associated with the objects. You can choose between several background base map images, and you can customize your map further with annotations and online layers from Web Mapping Services . We will work with our members to train on the use of the software to allow a commonality of use and information in a response situation. Organizations involved in this are NWS.

QUESTIONS ?