The technology will allow officials to improve advanced planning efforts, helping Tennessee residents get ahead of the next major flood
06/22/2022 NASHVILLE, TN TSX,NYSE:STN
The Tennessee Economic and Community Development Department (TNECD), in partnership with leading global design and engineering firm Stantec, has integrated a new decision-support technology to strengthen its resiliency efforts against flooding statewide. Flood Predictor, a proprietary product developed by Stantec, is a machine learning flood-risk technology that provides Tennessee communities high-quality flood predictions to support disaster planning and hazard mitigation.
Flood Predictor is a Stantec.io digital product that delivers rapid probabilistic flood predictions. These predictions are based on data derived from machine learning informed by more than 30,000 hours of engineered flood modeling. As a result, Flood Predictor’s gives state and local officials the ability to efficiently analyze regional flood risks in near real time without the need for complex hydrology and hydraulic modeling, which often can take months to deliver.
With these advanced insights, officials can better inform the public which areas are at the highest risk and which routes are the safest to travel ahead of an extreme storm event.
“With Flood Predictor, we’re combining the latest in machine-learning technology trained with traditional modeling and engineering studies to put actionable, reliable information into the hands of decision makers faster than ever,” said Jeff Albee, vice president and director of digital solutions at Stantec. “This system will help Tennessee officials achieve up to 95 percent hydrology and hydraulics model correlation. This means leaders will have the best understanding of when and where a flooding event is likely to happen based on the latest data and statistical simulations.”
TNECD will integrate Flood Predictor into its TNPlan web portal—an online repository of resilience data that gives government leaders and emergency management officials quick and efficient access to insights when future disasters strike. Funded by a U.S. Housing and Urban Development National Disaster Resilience Competition Grant, TNPlan and Flood Predictor will help address the unmet needs of communities statewide that arose from previous disasters.
“In the wake of extreme weather events, and the increasing frequency, Tennesseans have experienced intense floods that caused severe destruction and led to the tragic loss of lives,” said Kent Archer, Director of Community Infrastructure, Community and Rural development for TNECD. “By implementing this new technology, we’re giving disaster experts and community leaders across the state access to information that will allow our communities to better prepare for these types of events and help save lives.”
Stantec.io is an integrated digital services approach combining emerging technologies with subject matter expertise to address timely client project challenges. Capturing Stantec’s digital services, solutions, and partnerships, Stantec.io is embedded within the firm’s existing business lines to deliver tailored solutions across varying industries, sectors, and clients. Learn more at https://www.stantec.com/services/digital.
UPDATE: In December of 2022, the American Council of Engineering Companies Tennessee Chapter recognized Stantec and Flood Predictor with the Survey and Mapping Technology Grand Award for Engineering Excellence. The ACEC Tennessee Engineering Excellence Awards recognize engineering firms for projects that demonstrate an exceptional degree of innovation, complexity, achievement, and value.
In February 2023, the Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS) recognized Stantec at the 2022 Geospatial Excellence Awards with the Technology Innovation/Licensed Data Product Award for Flood Predictor. This award highlights firms contributing to the geospatial field in the United States that demonstrate achievement in areas, including data acquisition, surveying, geographic information systems, small projects, and technology innovation.
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Communities are fundamental. Whether around the corner or across the globe, they provide a foundation, a sense of place and of belonging. That's why at Stantec, we always design with community in mind.
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