Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Resilience And Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City presentation outlines flood vulnerability, prioritizes adaptation funding
Summary
Engineers presented a DEP-funded vulnerability assessment that maps storm-surge, rainfall and compound-flood risks and identifies six focus areas and vulnerable utilities; staff will use the study to seek implementation grants.
Port Orange staff and consultants from Kimley-Horn presented a citywide vulnerability assessment that models rainfall, sea-level rise, storm surge and compound flooding and identifies priority areas and assets for resilience work.
Juno Reed, the city engineer, introduced the study and said it was funded through a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's resilient program. Kimley-Horn project manager Chris Neferidis said the assessment inventories critical assets (roads, utilities, parks and buildings), runs multiple future flood scenarios and highlights points of high sensitivity, including wastewater treatment assets and low-lift stations in the northeast.
The consultants described how the study layered pluvial rainfall, high tides and surge to show 'compound' events that can inundate roadways and critical infrastructure. The team also identified six focus areas, vetted in stakeholder and public outreach, where adaptation strategies will be developed.
Kimley-Horn said adaptation strategies will include a mix of gray (infrastructure upsizing, raising roadway grades), green (nature-based solutions) and blue (regional stormwater and passive-park storage) approaches. The study team will finish the final vulnerability assessment and then move into an adaptation plan designed to position the city to apply for implementation funding.
Why it matters: The assessment is a required planning step for many state grant programs and will strengthen the city's ability to secure DEP implementation funds. Council members asked about compound events (rainfall plus surge), tidal influences, and how the study translated modeled flood depths into risks for structures and parks.
Next steps: Consultants will submit the final vulnerability assessment, complete the adaptation plan and pursue FDP funding for implementation projects.
Key quote: "Vulnerability assessment is just a planning tool to look in the future and how to manage flooding in terms of the impact of flooding on the city's critical assets," said Chris Neferidis of Kimley-Horn.
