Anticipating ‘The Big One’: Developing decision support with emergency managers to mitigate flood impacts

Author's Biography

Jacob Asherman is a Meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center (WPC). Jacob works several different forecast desks at WPC to produce a variety of public-facing products, including Excessive Rainfall Forecasts, Mesoscale Precipitation Discussions, Surface Analyses, Short Range frontal forecasts, and social media posts. Prior to joining WPC, Jacob was working toward an M.S. in Meteorology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, after graduating with a B.S. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Kansas in 2019.

Brad Bates is a Senior Geospatial Developer with Lynker. He has played a key role in the development of National Water Model visualization impact-based decision support services for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with a special focus on flood inundation mapping. He specializes in working closely with clients to identify new technologies and capabilities to support intelligent decision making in a world “flooded” with data. Brad earned his BS and MS in Geography from The University of Alabama.

Whitney Flynn is a hydrologist and FEMA Liaison Officer to the National Water Center (NWC) in Tuscaloosa, AL. Whitney serves to develop and foster a collaboration between FEMA, the NWC, and the broader emergency management community for the purposes of disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery, and resiliency. Whitney graduated summa cum laude from Jacksonville State University (JSU) with a B.S. in Geography and GIS in 2015, and a M.S. in Emergency Management from JSU in 2017.

Michael Erickson is a University of Colorado (CU) Boulder Research Scientist working at the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) in College Park, MD. Michael’s primary research topics involve the development of novel heavy rain forecast tools by tracking heavy precipitation objects and improving WPC’s verification efforts related to heavy precipitation events. As a result, Michael has developed several websites and a first-guess field for WPC’s Excessive Rainfall Outlook. Before joining CU and WPC, Michael earned his Ph.D. from Stony Brook University in 2015.

Alex Lamers is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. This is a new position at WPC since 2019 -- Alex is the first WCM at WPC, the national forecast center focused on the prediction of precipitation, including extreme rainfall and winter weather, and the overall national weather picture. Alex regularly engages with government and public safety partners, media outlets, and other interested users about WPC forecasts and their interpretation. He arrived at WPC in 2017 as a forecaster and primarily specialized in the prediction of extreme rainfall events from days to hours in advance. Alex has also previously worked as a liaison at NOAA Headquarters for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service (NESDIS), and as a meteorologist and forecaster in four local NWS forecast offices, including Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Norman, Oklahoma; Duluth, Minnesota; and Tallahassee, Florida.