The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is preparing a new application to help people determine at a street-level where water could rise in a storm surge.
This experimental storm surge simulator will let people get a look at what kind of storm surges can take place in their surroundings and which can be the possible damages. The preliminary model is based on Charleston (South Carolina), USA.
"Surveys of the public show there is still a consistent misunderstanding of what the storm surge is, and how deadly it can be. In part this is due to the challenge scientists encounter in trying to simplify the complex physics of hurricanes for the public, and in part this is due to poor misunderstanding of flood zone maps that represent the flooding scenario as it might be viewed from above," reads the introduction to the app, according to Emergency Management.
Since the feature is still on trial phase, user are called to take a survey before and after using the simulator to help the NOAA’s National Weather Service determine its effectiveness.
