Technical writting

CENE 333L – Current Event Memo: Museum Fire Flood Response

RESOURCES:  Arizona Daily Sun Museum Fire Article Collection; https://azdailysun.com/news/museum-fire-collection-a-

compilation-of-links-to-all-daily/collection_4330a74e-de59-50c4-94bf-ceb71fefb222.html Read and use the following articles for this memo

o “Museum Fire flooding facts for future dangers” o “New Museum Fire burn severity map reinforces watershed flooding concerns” o “Years of flooding possible, county officials say; firefighters continue routeing out hotspots” o “Sunnyside flood mitigation differs from those in rural areas” o “County installs concrete barriers as models show 5-foot flooding possible near Elden Road”

 Coconino County Museum Fire Flood Control website, https://www.coconino.az.gov/2133/Museum-Fire-Flood- Area Read and use the following items for this memo

o “Flood Area Update Letter” o “Frequently Asked Questions” o “Preliminary Flood Risk Maps”

 Coconino County Museum Fire Flood Control website, https://www.coconino.az.gov/2168/Flood-Insurance- Information Read and use the following items for this memo

o “Museum Flood Risk Advisory” o “Flood Insurance Information” o “Flood After Fire”

 NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Frequency Map, https://hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/pfds_map_cont.html  FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map

OBJECTIVES: 1. Explain the effects flooding and an engineer’s role in mitigating those effects 2. Describe the processes utilized to control flow, velocity, and sediment transport with on ground measures 3. Describe the reason flooding is worse after fires and the quantifiable difference that happens even after “normal”

rainfall 4. Identify the difference between hydrology and hydraulics and the engineering applications of each to the probable

Museum Fire Flood 5. Identify the main areas of where engineering assumptions had to be utilized in order to provide reasonable

mitigation measures in a short time frame

LAB: The primary component of this lab will be the Arizona Daily Sun articles and the Coconino County website in response to the Museum Fire. Treat these resources as a preliminary evaluation of emergency management for engineers and an engineer’s role in flood prediction/mitigation.

This lab requires that you familiarize yourself with the components and processes of applied hydrology and hydraulics in reference to flooding. The concepts discussed and evaluated are rooted in basic hydrology and hydraulic principals and not unlike systems used throughout many other CENE flood control projects.

DELIVERABLES: Prepare your deliverable summarizing the cause of the flooding, the initial concerns of the flooding, and the infrastructure developed to minimize the flooding impacts. Your memo should address:

 Discuss the severity of the Museum Fire and how this type of fire created the conditions that could cause catastrophic flooding

 Define and discuss what hydrophobic soil is and how the fire created it  Define and discuss what debris flows are, how the fire made them more severe, and also how debris flows effect

the volume of material in the floods  Discuss what identifying storm events by a year ( 2 year, 100 year, 500 year, etc…) actually means for the

probability of that storm event occurring during a given year

 Discuss why having one severe storm may have minimal impact on run-off and flooding when compared to having three severe storms in a row having a significant impact

 Discuss, using results from NOAA Atlas 14, the Coconino County Website, and the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map, the quantifiable difference between the severity of flooding for the same amount of rainfall for the neighborhood from Cedar to Route 66. Do this by looking at the following items

o Use NOAA Atlas 14 to determine which storm event the 1”, 2” and 3” rainfall depth storm events approximately correspond to for both the 6-hour and 24-hour duration (these are the storm durations used by the federal government to determine 100-year and 500- year flood plain maps). Tabulate this data for ease of use

o Identify the likelihood with an interpolated percent chance that each of these storms will occur in a given year. Tabulate this data for ease of use

o Use the “Preliminary Flood Risk Maps” to determine the extents of flooding based on streets, water depth, and flood width

o Use the “Flood Insurance Rate Map” to determine the extents of flooding based on the streets for both the 100-yr and 500-yr flood plains

 Discuss flood mitigation infrastructure items such as purpose, capacities, useful life, design concerns and considerations, and operations/maintenance needs for the items that were developed for the Museum Fire Flood response

Independently work and prepare your own memo following the CENE 333L guidelines for a synopsis