Flooding Awareness

City leaders and staff continue to make infrastructure improvement a priority but in most residential and commercial areas, systems are typically designed for what’s commonly referred to as a 10-year, 24-hour storm event. A 10-year event is a storm capable of producing rainfall expected to be equaled or exceeded on the average of once in 10 years. Therefore, residents should remain vigilant, know their neighborhood layout where crossings are likely for water to overtop the road and keep a three-day emergency supply kit available. Always be Aware and Always be Prepared during hurricane season. The following resources below provides information on being prepared during these events.

 

Drivenc.gov - Displays real-time information regarding roadway conditions of major roads during major storm events.

Flood Awareness Map - Displays vetted information for the City of Fayetteville regarding reports of flooding from previous storm events such as hurricanes Matthew and Florence.

FIMAN - FIMAN (Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network) offers real-time rain and stage gage information, flood inundation maps, alerts, and insights into flooding impacts.

Flooding

What is flooding (and are there different types)?

Flooding is caused by a large amounts of rainfall that causes waterways to overflow beyond the normal confines usually dry land. It can be caused by rain, melting snow, and over flows of dams and other water systems during rain events.

Flooding can occur quickly during times of intense rainfall. These downpours are known as flash flooding. Flooding can also occur during slower moving storms with more significant amounts of rain. It is one of the most common natural disasters in the United States, causing severe property damage and outages and disrupting vital services. Failing to avoid a flooded area can lead to injury or death.

We can also experience nuisance flooding in our area. Nuisance flooding (NF) refers to low levels of inundation that do not pose significant threats to public safety or cause substantial property damage, but can disrupt routine day-to-day activities, put added strain on infrastructure systems such as roadways and storm sewers, and cause minor property damage.

While all flooding is concerning, it is important to understand the difference between nuisance flooding (or flooding that occurs during a seasonal rainfall) and flooding that is considered historical, and associated with historical storms such as hurricanes. Storm events such as hurricanes or high intensity, high volume rain events can lead above normal rainfall totals of historical amounts causing associated flooding. Recent storms such as Hurricanes Matthew and Florence brought significant rain to the area and produced above-normal flooding.

Flood Awareness Map

Preparedness

Preparedness

Residents should be prepared before a storm occurs. Flooding can happen anywhere, even outside of a floodplain. Understand where flooding happens in the community can help you to make a plan for your family and pets and ensure safety during flooding situations.

Have an Emergency Kit

An emergency kit can help you to get through the first three days or so of an emergency or disaster. In the aftermath of a disaster there could be limited access to everyday items such as gas stations, grocery stores, and banks. You may want to plan to survive at home (or shelter) for approximately 72 hours.

A resident can find more information about what to include in their 3 day kit here

Staying Safe During the Storm

Residents should stay safe during a storm, sheltering in place if possible. If a resident cannot safely shelter in place, the resident should evacuate to a shelter. Residents should listen to an EAS, NOAA weather radio and other local alerting systems for current emergency information. If residents are instructed to evacuate, they should do so immediately.

If a resident must drive during severe weather, care should be given not to drive through flooded waters. Residents should not underestimate the force of water flowing over roadways. Over half of all flood related drownings come from vehicles being driven into hazardous flood waters. The next highest percentage of drownings occur when people walk into or near flood waters.

See a good video about Turn Around, Don't Drown.

Remember, just 6 inches of water can knock you down, and one foot of water can sweep a car away! You can’t always tell how deep water is on a road. When in doubt, turn around! Residents should also stay off bridges over fast moving water. Fast moving water can wash bridges away without warning.

Rebuilding After the Storm

If there is a FEMA declared storm and residents experienced damage, residents should begin to contact various agencies in order to begin the recovery process.

Hiring Contractors

Hiring contractors to complete recovery work can be stressful. Here are some tips on how to avoid fraud and ensure that the job is done correctly.

  1. Plan projects
  2. Get several (2-3) estimates
  3. Verify contractor license and insurance
  4. Check references
  5. Get written contract
  6. No down payment
  7. Monitor work
  8. Do not pay until job is complete
  9. Keep all paperwork

Resources for Fraud Protection

Volunteer Opportunities

Want to get involved with your community? There are several organizations that provides opportunities to volunteer with disaster relief.

City Programs

The City of Fayetteville has made significant strides in upgrading our storm drainage infrastructure in recent years and developing programs to help homeowners with private drainage issues. But the systems in place may not entirely eliminate the possibility of historic flooding from hurricanes and other major rain events. Therefore, the City continues to maintain a comprehensive program to address infrastructure needs throughout the city. City programs include:

  • Watershed Masterplan program.
  • Capital Improvement Projects program.
  • Spot repair projects.
  • Drainage assistance program.

Read on to learn more about these programs.

Watershed Masterplan Program
The City is conducting a comprehensive, city-wide watershed master plan which will seek to identify, prioritize, and manage multiple watershed studies within the process. The goal is to develop a comprehensive plan that identifies and prioritizes projects the City will need to address in the coming years based on analysis from the plan.

Capital Improvement Projects
The Capital Improvement Projects program addresses drainage within the City's right-of-way on a large scale within neighborhoods.

Spot Repair Program
The spot repair program addresses projects on a smaller scale that may only affect drainage within the City's right-of-way for one or two houses.

Drainage Assistance Program
The drainage assistance program is designed to assist private property owners with drainage issues outside of the City's right-of-way, potentially impacting the City's drainage infrastructure.

Resources

North Carolina Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network (NC FINMAN)
NC Finman is a website devoted to providing state and rain data, flood data, impacts, and real-time alerts to allow accurate decision-making regarding flooding. The NC FINMAN website gathers real-time data to distribute reliable and accurate information on recent rain and stream stage data.

North Carolina Flood Risk Information System (NC FRIS)
NC FRIS is a resource available to citizens of North Carolina that provides digitally accessible flood hazard data, models, and maps that are database-driven. Citizens can enter their address and determine the flood hazard risks for the area in which they live.

Cumberland Alerts
Get information about severe incidents by signing up for the Cumberland Alerts notification system managed by Cumberland County Emergency Management. The Cumberland Alerts system provides critical, real-time information related to severe weather, evacuations, protective actions, etc.

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