Rhode Island Critical Resources—Preliminary Flood Vulnerability Assessment

Each year flooding causes hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage to homes and businesses. Because of Rhode Island’s small size and extensive coastal geography, the entire state is considered a coastal area. It is estimated that losses to structures and casualty insurance from a 100-year storm could be more than $1 billion. With proper planning, managers can significantly reduce the amount of disaster management that is required and the amount of money that is spent when there is an event.

Currently in Rhode Island, there are no seamless statewide facilities or infrastructure datasets that officials can use for statewide hazard planning. While much of this information does exist, many of these datasets are either not in a format readily accessible with a GIS or are in differing coordinate systems. These discrepancies not only prevent them from being integrated for comprehensive planning and mitigation efforts but make them virtually inaccessible in time of need.

This work sought to generate a statewide database of critical facilities/ infrastructure and a series of regional maps showing the relationship between these critical locations and the vulnerability analysis. These maps will serve as the bridge between localized hazard planning at the town level and the statewide mitigation efforts. In addition, the creation of a seamless statewide facilities database is a powerful addition to the state’s Multi-Hazard Mitigation Strategy.