Let’s talk flood mapping. It’s really important.

A couple weeks back a major ground breaking, epic, awe inspiring, kind-of-a-big-deal on the level of Ron Burgundy national flooding report was released. The report is titled: The First National Flood Risk Assessment – Defining America’s Growing Risk.

You can find numerous articles from reputable news organizations like USA Today, Washington Post, and New York Times, Click on those if you are interested in reading something long, drawn out and complicated. Just kidding they are great. But quite frankly I don’t think they are nearly as entertaining as this blog.

Like always, I am here to give you the short and sweet low down on this report and why it is so revolutionary and important.

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The reason this report is so important is because it all comes down to flood risk mapping. That is, maps that tell us where places are most susceptible to flooding for land development. Where maybe we should think twice before we build yet another Starbucks directly across the street from the other Starbucks.

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Before this new report, flood mapping in the United States, kind of, well…. sucked. Especially for inland urban flooding. Sorry for the harsh language – It just did. In fact, flood risk mapping is so notoriously bad that the National Flood Insurance Program, which relies on FEMA’s maps for governing the program, has become a financial disaster as a result.

People need better information on flood risks and when to seriously consider purchasing flood insurance. Local officials and government agencies need better maps to regulate zoning and development that take into account flooding issues. They also need them for emergency response plans and educating the public to avoid high danger areas. Engineers and planners need these maps to prioritize mitigation projects and determine where to direct investments. Maps are critical to all aspects of flood planning and mitigation.

So what’s in this new report?

This report took the entire United States of America and used the best technology at our disposal to predict flooding locations. They predicted the flooding conditions both under current conditions and under future climate change projections. And they did this for every single address in the United States. Just amazing. And it’s super easy to use. Just go to this link: https://floodfactor.com/ and type in an address.

You will get a numeric score back ranging from 1 to 10 quantifying the property’s flood risk factor. The higher the factor score, the more likely the property is at risk over the lifespan of a 30-year mortgage. A 9-10 score is categorized as “Extreme”, 7-8 is “Severe”, 5-6 “Major”, 3-4 “Moderate”, and anything 1-2 is “Low”. In addition to the score, you will also get a series of informative interactive maps showing the flood extent predictions for 0.2%, 1%, 5%, and 20% statistical chance floods.

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So let’s take this new Flood Factor tool for a test drive shall we? I’m going demonstrate the tool on four addresses in the Pittsburgh region:

• UPMC St. Margaret – 815 Freeport Road, Pittsburgh PA, 15215
• BP Gas Station on Banksville Road – 2900 Banksville Rd, Pittsburgh PA, 15216
• Chick-fil-A on McKnight Road – 7451 McKnight Rd, Pittsburgh PA, 15237
• Big Jim’s in the Run – 201 Saline St, Pittsburgh PA, 15207

Let’s take each of these addresses and do a direct comparison between the Flood Factor website and the FEMA flood mapping website.

Let’s see how well they align as it relates to understanding flood risk.

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UPMC St. Margaret

Here was the scene in July of 2019 where both entrances to the hospital were closed for several hours due to flooding. What a catastrophe in public safety on so many levels. Most of Freeport Road was inundated with impassible flood waters.

The Flood Factor map results indicate a score of 7 out of 10 designated as a “SEVERE” flood factor area.

For the same location FEMA map results indicate Zone X – “AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD”.

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BP Gas Station on Banksville Road

Here was the scene (also in July 2019) at the BP Gas Station at the intersection of Banksville Road and Potomac Avenue. During this flood event a 90 year old man was rescued from his trapped car. See the video below.

The Flood Factor map results indicate a score of 9 out of 10 designated as an “EXTREME” flood factor area.

For the same location FEMA map results indicate Zone X – “AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD”.

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Chick-Fil-A on McKnight Road

Ahhhh Chick-fil-A, those delectable chicken sandwiches and milk shakes….

Here’s the video of the scene (again from July 2019) where a giant sinkhole opened up on McKnight Road.

“At times it was as if we had a new river flowing through the North Hills.” – Ken Rice delivering the goods on that quote.

The Flood Factor map results indicate a score of 9 out of 10 designated as an “EXTREME” flood factor area.

For the same location FEMA map results indicate Zone X – “AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD”.

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Big Jim’s in the Run

Chick-Fil-A, take your pathetic chicken sandwiches and get outta here with that nonsense. Just take one look at this glorious chicken parm hoagie from the legendary Big Jim’s.

Private message for Chick-Fil-A: You really don’t know what you’re dealing with here in Pittsburgh and you want no part of even trying to compete with Big Jim’s in the Run. Just stop. I suggest you leave, immediately. And take your stupid cow mascot with you too.

Although, in terms of flooding locations I’m not sure what’s worse: a massive sink hole opening up and swallowing your car while at Chick-Fil-A, or a giant erupting Old Faithful of floodwaters near Big Jim’s? Tough call. Again, I think the nod might go to Big Jim’s on this one. Although I’m not too sure he would consider himself the “winner” in this instance. See the below home video footage of the flood geyser.

The Flood Factor map results indicate a score of 8 out of 10 designated as a “SEVERE” flood factor area.

And in yet another shocking surprise, FEMA map results indicate Zone X – “AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARD”.

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And there you have it for four prominent flooding locations in our region and the results from the Flood Factor tool and FEMA flood maps.

So…. which mapping tool would you use to find out if an address might be susceptible to flooding? For me, I think it’s best to err on the side of caution when it comes to issues like flooding. Therefore, I would recommend use all information at your disposal and make the best decision for you.

The Flood Factor tool is not perfect by any stretch. The Flood Factor research team acknowledges that the results of their tool will need to be constantly improved as more information is gathered. Good news is that they plan on updating the tool annually.

But overall, I think this is a step in the right direction to providing more information to the public around this complicated issue. FEMA flood maps have long been known to not paint the full picture to the true extents of flooding. Especially outside of coastal areas and larger rivers networks and streams.

On a final concluding note, the Flood Factor team quantified cities across the entire United States that face the most substantial risk of properties due to flooding. Guess who made the list?

Are we as a region ready to come together to address this issue or not?

If so, can I suggest we meet at Big Jim’s for the first meeting?

I just can’t get my mind off that chicken parm sandwich now.

(Covid-19 pending, of course.)