App: Flood analysis in the city of Abbotsford, BC
Hosted in ArcGIS Online:
- Storymap: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/fcf99572adb148e995a8296ca4a29a11
- Main web app: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=78985d07d2bd491eb58e4ec927f6dd45
Introduction:
Due to climate change, the precipitation level in B.C. has been increasing in past years. This has resulted in multiple flooding events alongside of the Fraser river, and increasing the threat to populations who live there. Just in the past year in 2021, the city of Abbotsford has experienced the largest flooding event in decades, causing about $2 billion dollars in damages and leaving many injuries. Therefore, it is important for the home owners to know the risk levels of their home to future flooding events in Abbotsford, and how to safely evacuate during a flood. Furthermore, the officials will need to know the risk levels as well for developing a more sustainable city development plan.
Mission Statement:
Flooding refers to overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry due to heavy rains, sea level rises, snow melts and dams break (Alberta Water Portal Society, 2014). Floods are extremely destructive and will cause extensive physical damage to plants, animals, and communities. Furthermore, floods can carry contaminants and viruses to a long distance which might threaten drinking water safety. According to previous studies, global warming effects lead to snowpack melting and swelling which increases the precipitation level and chances of floods.
Faster River basin located in B.C. is one of the largest river basins in Western Canada. The average temperature of Fraser River is 11°C, and the average monthly precipitation is around 66.5 mm (Timeanddate.com, 2021). The ongoing climate change has significantly increased the precipitation level in B.C. which results in higher frequency of flooding along the Fraser River. Especially in the city of Abbotsford, which has experienced catastrophic flooding due to a heavy precipitation of 500mm in November, 2021. As a result, nearly 15,000 people were forced to leave their home, major roads and bridges were cut off by water, and farms were flooded up to two meters deep. Furthermore, the flooding caused landslides have killed at least five people. Financial losses were estimated at $2 billion dollars including the loss of livestock and infrastructure (Weber, 2022).
The goal of our project is to create a story-map and a web-app illustrating the high flood risk areas in Abbotsford and educate the audience about the emergency responses to flooding. We aim to support the local community’s sustainable development by increasing the resilience to floods of residents through our story map. Furthermore, our web app is useful for residents in Abbotsford because they can clearly see if their home is at risk to floods and how high the level of risk is. The functions embed in this app also provides users with some advance functions to navigate and find evacuation centres if a flood ever happens. This app can be used by newcomers to Abbotsford that are looking for a place to live, or can be used by the government officials who are determining the future planning of this city. Either way, this app is a great tool to use in a drastically changing climate like today.
Video Presentation
Documentation
Team Members
Xilin Wan: Xilin is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Global Environmental Systems with certificates in Geographic Information Science and Computing Studies at Simon Fraser University. She is looking forward to starting graduate studies this September and working with Geographic information systems in different fields. During her free time, Xilin enjoys hiking, painting and cooking.
Lan Qing Zhao: Lan Qing is a fourth year undergraduate student majoring in Physical Geography and Spatial Information Science. He also completed a certificate in GISience, and is expected to start his MSc in Spatial Modeling & Analysis in Fall. Outside of school, Lan Qing enjoys acting, filming, music and basketball.
Lingxuan Fan: Lingxuan is a fourth-year undergraduate student in geographic information science major. She is interested in GIS and human geography research. During her free time, she likes going to the gym and cooking.