PNNL flood modeling helps DHS during busy hurricane season

Lab support is through DHS's National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center

News Brief

September 12, 2017

• Frances White, PNNL, (509) 375-6904

RICHLAND, Wash. - Flood modeling analysis by researchers at the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab is helping to inform federal infrastructure planning and emergency response efforts this hurricane season.

Models were used to help evaluate the impacts of Hurricane Harvey on the Gulf Coast in late August and also supported similar efforts related to Hurricane Irma this past week.

For Hurricane Harvey, PNNL staff developed and ran twice-daily flood simulations over the course of 8 days through the lab's involvement in the Department of Homeland Security's National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center, also known as NISAC. About 20 PNNL staff contribute to the center's mission each year, 5 of whom specifically worked on the Hurricane Harvey response.

The simulations, based on N.O.A.A. weather forecasts, were used by DHS, DOE, DOT and others to enhance understanding of the storm and its potential flood impacts on critical infrastructure such as roads and the power grid. The simulations were created with PNNL's Rapid Inundation Flood Tool, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic computer model.

NISAC analysis supports DHS' mission in understanding how critical infrastructure can be impacted by incidents of national concern such as hurricanes, flooding and manmade events.

Tags: Computational Science, National Security, Homeland Security

Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed and operated by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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