Victoria’s internationally recognised flood planning tool

By on 15 September, 2015

floodzoom

The Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has received the 2015 Special Achievement in GIS Award award for its innovative FloodZoom intelligence platform.

The Special Achievement in GIS Awards is an annual global awards program by Esri. This year, there was a pool of more than 100,000 nominations internationally and DELWP was named one of the winners at July’s Esri International User’s Conference in San Diego, California.

Since receiving the award, FloodZoom has now been launched to help authorities and the wider community prepare and manage the risks associated with flooding events.  FloodZoom brings together flood forecasts, flood mapping, real time river height gauges and property data to provide coordinated information and improved knowledge about likely flood impacts.

FloodZoom aims to coordinate information from a range of sources, including at risk properties from the Victorian flood database, forecast river heights from the Bureau of Meteorology, live road closures from VicRoads and evacuation route planning around facilities such as schools and hospitals.

While FloodZoom will be used by authorities and agencies, communities and individuals will be able to access better warnings as a result of the new system through Emergency Management Victoria and VICSES websites and emergency messaging systems.

FloodZoom will also play a valuable role in allowing potential flood impacts to be taken into account in making planning decisions.

DELWP Manager of Floodplain Management, Steve Muncaster, said: “The forecasts will benefit communities by providing more accurate and timely warnings that will be specific to local areas, giving emergency services and authorities the best chance of mitigating the impact of floods.”

“FloodZoom is a great example of how the Victorian Government is working with local communities and stakeholders to better prepare Victoria for flood emergencies,” Mr Muncaster said.

“While we can’t stop flooding, we know that effective warnings can save lives and significantly reduce flood damage.

“Victorians in flood-prone communities will benefit from more accurate and timely flood warnings that are specific to their local area, improved flood preparedness and flood response activities, and better informed planning decisions.”

FloodZoom is currently being used in conjunction with other operational tools while further refinement and testing is undertaken before its full utilisation.

 

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