May 2011 Memphis, Tennessee Flood Completed

The USGS Tennessee Water-Science Center worked in cooperation with FEMA, USACE, National Weather Service, and local agencies to provide emergency real-time surface-water stage gages at critical locations in Shelby County. The emergency gages included a replacement gage on the Mississippi River at Memphis and other critical locations. Information from the gages assisted the National Weather Service and the Emergency Management agencies in flood forecasts as the crest of the Mississippi river flooding approached and passed Memphis, Tennessee.

The USGS Tennessee Water-Science Center sent four additional crews deployed to the FEMA emergency designated areas, Stewart, Lake, Dyer, and Shelby Counties in Tennessee to document high-water levels in the flooded areas. Six transducers were also deployed to monitor the flood rise, peak levels, and recession. The combination of the high-water marks, transducers, and the emergency gaging are being used to develop flood inundation maps for FEMA.

USGS Activities in the News:

• Tennessee FloodWatch and May 2010 flood information