(14/P3) TRENTON – The latest in a series of online, interactive flood- preparation maps designed to assist emergency management personnel and keep residents in the Passaic River Basin informed about flooding events in real time has been launched, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin announced today.

Seven flood inundation maps, covering portions of 20 northern New Jersey municipalities, are now available online through the National Weather Service, a component of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The first flood inundation maps were launched late last year, covering a nearly three-mile stretch of the Saddle River in Lodi. The Passaic River Basin Advisory Commission, established by Governor Christie in 2010, recommended flood inundation mapping as part of a 15-point plan to help mitigate the impacts of flooding in the basin.

 “The Christie Administration remains committed to providing better flood preparedness, more appropriate responses to flooding events and creating more resilient communities in the Passaic River Basin,” DEP Commissioner Martin said. “These latest maps will help local, state and federal officials protect the public during severe weather events that result in flooding, while also providing residents real-time information about conditions in the basin.”

“These maps will provide the public with water depth estimates during a flood,” said Gary Szatkowski, Meteorologist in Charge, National Weather Service in Mount Holly. “These maps, along with National Weather Service flood warnings and forecasts, will help users plan for and mitigate flood impacts.”

The Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services (AHPS) inundation maps cover portions of Chatham, New Providence, Summit, Long Hill, Bernards, Clifton, Garfield, Elmwood Park, Paterson, Passaic, Riverdale, Bloomingdale, Pompton Lakes, Wayne, Pequannock Township, Upper Saddle River, Saddle River, West Paterson, Totowa, and Little Falls. 

Creation of additional maps to complete this project for the Passaic River Basin is expected to be done by the end of 2014. 

The AHPS maps were developed using LiDAR-based high-resolution digital elevation data, hydraulic models and provide water depth information.

Utilizing the Google-maps based interface, users can zoom into the northern New Jersey area and select one of the multiple flood map locations at this location: http://water.weather.gov/ahps/inundation.php

Once the specific map displays, users can observe major flooding levels and water depth information in their neighborhoods.  The interface also has roam and geolocation capabilities, as well as historic flood information for each location that allows viewers to compare a current flood forecast to earlier weather events.

An online video instructing how to use the maps can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flyTdd7f2JI.

The AHPS inundation maps in Northern New Jersey are the result of a joint federal and state partnership called Silver Jackets, which is comprised of the DEP, NOAA’s National Weather Service Eastern Region and forecast offices in New York and Philadelphia, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New York and Philadelphia districts, the U.S. Geological Survey New Jersey Water Science Center, the Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region 2.

For more on the DEP’s Passaic River Basin Flood Advisory Commission, visit:
http://www.nj.gov/dep/passaicriver/

For more on the Silver Jackets’ program, visit: http://www.nfrmp.us/state/index.cfm