Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2010IN248B

Plan Today For Tomorrow’s Flood: A Flood Response Plan for Agricultural Retailers

Institute: Indiana
Year Established: 2010 Start Date: 2010-03-01 End Date: 2011-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $15,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $45,390

Principal Investigators: Fred Whitford

Project Summary: A flood is similar to a spill, fire, tornado, or any other emergency. But, floods often take longer in the recovery process because of hidden damages, and often, lack of insurance. Floods are a real risk that an ag retailer needs to consider and plan for as part of doing business. While we can’t necessarily predict who will be impacted by the next flood, we can think about contingency plans to deal with floods. Each flood has its own unique footprint over the impacted area and people’s lives. How deep the water will be depends on the amount of water falling in that area, terrain, the elevation of the facility, the time period that it rains, how deep the river channel is, width of the flood plain, saturation level of rivers and creeks, and the ratio of impervious surface to soil surface. While each flood is different, plant managers know how their facility operates, and where chemicals are located in the warehouse. They know how water sheds off the property, how small rains impact the facility, and what roads are susceptible to flooding. Relying on “Lady Luck” to get through the flood, or for that matter any emergency is a sure plan for disaster. Those who preplan and give some thought to what they would do in a flood usually can get back in business more quickly than those who did not put in place an action and reaction plan. How much you can accomplish will depend on how soon you start the process and how quickly the water is rising. The facts are clear: advance-planning limits the amount of damage caused by rising water levels.