Floods, Droughts, and Hurricanes

Preventing flood hazards, such as the hurricane induced storm surge, from becoming human disasters requires an understanding of the relative risks floods pose to specific communities and knowledge of the processes by which flood waters rise, converge, and abate. Historically, hurricane-induced storm tides have been documented through measurement of high-water marks left on structures or vegetation...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has created flood-inundation maps for selected streamgage sites in Georgia, North and South Carolina. These maps depict the approximate area that would be inundated at selected water levels, ranging from approximately top-of-bank to the maximum observed water level. The inundated areas depicted on these maps are approximate, and accuracy of the maps is a function...

Hurricane Information for Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

We now have a map and data table-based system to allow you to view real-time precipitation at Georgia, North and South Carolina water-monitoring sites. The rainfall maps and tables are updated continuously and display data from the last 1-3,6,12,24 hours and 2 and 7 days.

The objective of this investigation will be to assess the effects of impoundments on streamflow across the contiguous hydrologic regions in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia as defined by Feaster and others (2014, 2009). Given the historic flooding in South Carolina in October 2015 following Hurricane Joaquin (Feaster and others, 2015) and in South Carolina and North Carolina in October...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC) geographic area has two Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) watersheds: Proctor Creek in Atlanta, GA, and Walnut Creek in Raleigh, NC. The local efforts in Walnut Creek are supported by many partner organizations, including but not limited to: Partners for Environmental Justice, the Carolina Wetlands Association, the...

This ongoing USGS study for Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina aims to (1) compute low-flow statistics at selected continuous-record streamgages in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina and to (2) develop regional regression equations for a subset of those low-flow characteristics for streams that are not substantially affected by tides, regulation, diversions, or other...

Reliable estimates of the magnitude and frequency of floods are part of the technically-based framework for hydraulic-structure design and flood-plain delineation in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. Annual peak flows measured at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow gaging stations (stations) are used to compute flood frequency estimates for a location on a stream. However, such...

The South Atlantic Water Science Center prepares for Hurricane Dorian.

In 2015, Dr. Robert Holmes, USGS National Flood Hazard Coordinator, took time to discuss some issues related to the flooding in South Carolina following the Appalachian Floods and Hurricane Joaquin.

The South Atlantic Water Science Center prepares for Hurricane Florence to make landfall along the Carolina coast.

A major element of the USGS mission is the documentation of the extent and magnitude of extreme hydrologic events, like floods and droughts. The South Atlantic Water Science Center is a leader in monitoring extreme water conditions, from droughts and falling groundwater levels to floods and storm-tide surges to water-quality problems.