Fifty-Year Flood-Inundation Maps for Santa Rosa de Aguan, Honduras
After the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, maps of the areas and depths of the 50-year-flood inundation at 15 municipalities in Honduras were prepared as a tool for agencies involved in reconstruction and planning. This report, which is one in a series of 15, presents maps of areas in the coastal municipality of Santa Rosa de Aguan that are prone to oceanic storm-surge flooding and wave action. The 50-year flood on the Rio Aguan (4,270 cubic meters per second), would inundate most of the area surveyed for this municipality and beyond. Therefore a detailed numerical hydraulic model was not developed for this municipality as it was for the others. The 50-year storm surge would likely produce higher water levels than the 50-year flood on the river during normal astronomical tides. The elevation of the 50-year storm surge was estimated to be 4.35 meters above normal sea level, based on hurricane probabilities and published storm-surge elevations associated with various hurricane categories. Flood-inundation maps, including areas of wave-action hazard and a color-shaded elevation map, were created from the available data and the estimated 50-year storm tide.
Geographic Information System (GIS) coverages of the hazard areas are available on a computer in the municipality of Santa Rosa de Aguan as part of the Municipal GIS project and on the Internet at the Flood Hazard Mapping Data Web page (https://mitchnts1.cr.usgs.gov/projects/floodhazard.html). These coverages allow users to view the maps in much more detail than is possible using the maps in this report.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2002 |
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Title | Fifty-Year Flood-Inundation Maps for Santa Rosa de Aguan, Honduras |
DOI | 10.3133/ofr02258 |
Authors | Mark C. Mastin, T. D. Olsen |
Publication Type | Report |
Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
Series Title | Open-File Report |
Series Number | 2002-258 |
Index ID | ofr02258 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |