The Army Corps of Engineers has finally released their flood scenario maps to the public. These maps were the original source of the data used in our Renton interactive map, via the city of Renton. The Corps, both on their site and in this Seattle Times article, makes an important caveat:

The scenarios cannot consider every uncertainty associated with an actual flood event. In short, these are not the only scenarios possible, but allow for planning degrees of response. The maps do not take into consideration work being done along the river in regards to levee fortification and again may not accurately reflect inundation.

Still, the maps provide useful information, and we hope to use them in an interactive “depiction” very soon.

Another useful tool is from the NOAA, a page showing current & forecast river levels at the Auburn gage. This can be used in coordination with the Corps maps, which are based off of measurements at the same location–for example, their lowest flood scenario is 13900 cubic feet per second (cfs) at that part of the river. At the moment, the river is at about 1400 cfs (or 1.4 kcfs), and isn’t expected to get higher than 2000 cfs in the next few days.

Via the City of Kent on Twitter.

Of all the cities that could be affected by the flooding of the Green River, the city of Renton has released the most comprehensive information about the potential flood areas. They have released four different maps, based on four different water levels coming from Howard Hanson Dam.

We’ve put all four of these maps into a single “depiction,” so you can examine and compare each of them.

Did the pounding rain make anyone else nervous this morning? The Army Corps of Engineers, which manages Howard Hanson Dam, has tweeted from the official dam Twitter account:

The rains are here; but, forecast will not cause Green River Valley flood concerns. Check out where the weather is http://tiny.cc/erRj7

You may have noticed that we’ve redesigned the site recently. The latest news about Howard Hanson Dam can now be found in the middle column. This space will be used for summaries of the news, announcements about new interactive maps, and anything else that seems particularly important. We’ve got some helpful stuff in the pipeline, so be sure to keep posted!

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, we’re very pleased to see two new sites go up that provide links to online resources for those who may be affected by Green River flooding this winter.

Most importantly, Rep. Dave Reichert has a great site up with links to many useful sites, both specifically about the Howard Hanson Dam situation and about preparing for floods in general. (He does not, for some reason, have any links to this site!).

Also, a slightly less official site has appeared. “Hansondam.com” looks suspiciously familiar, providing “news and information about Howard Hanson Dam.” It’s been set up, if not very prettily, by what are no doubt good folks at SandBagsToGo.com. So, if you need sandbags to go, you know where to get them