PROJECT ALERT NOTICE (VA WV) USGS VA-WV WSC response to Florence

Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2018 10:26:56 EDT

Summary: USGS staff are mobilizing for response to inland flooding as remnants of Hurricance Florence move through the region later today.

The remnants of Hurricane Florence are making their way to the southwestern part of Virginia and far eastern West Virginia. 96-hour rainfall totals in this region range from 3-4 inches with an additional 2-3 inches forecast to fall later today and into Monday morning. With most streamgages reporting much above normal streamflow, 11 gages are forecast to reach flood stage, 6 of which are forecast to reach major flood levels.

There are five 2-person crews deploying to the field today and an additional three 2-person crews planning to leave for the field first thing Monday morning. These crews will be primarily focused on making discharge measurements at streamgages in the New, James, and Roanoke River basins. There are five rapid deployment gages 12 non-realtime water level sensors deployed in this region as well. As the storm passes, focus will shift to the retrieval of those sensors.

In the upper Potomac, two 2-person crews will be deployed tomorrow to collect water quality samples and make discharge measurements.

Along the coast, a single 2-person team will be deployed tomorrow to begin the process of retrieving the 4 rapid deployment gages and multiple storm surge sensors that had been deployed last week.

All RDG and non-realtime water level sensor data is available through the Flood Event Viewer.