Local U.S. Geological Survey office gears up for Floyd--You can follow the storm's flood effects on real-time web sites.
As Hurricane Floyd heads for the Chesapeake Bay region,personnel from USGS offices in Maryland and Delaware are packing equipment into their sampling vans and heading out into the storm. Their mission: collect streamflow measurements and water-quality samples for use in flood prediction and numerous short and long-term environmental studies.
Even though Floyd is currently predicted to be downgraded to a tropical storm when it gets to this area, heavy precipitation is predicted. It is expected that large amounts of surface runoff produced by heavy rains will wash nutrients, sediment, pesticides, and other contaminants (suspended and dissolved constituents) into the rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. The USGS water-quality sampling teams will be taking water samples to determine the amount of suspended and dissolved constituents carried in some of Maryland's rivers as a result of Floyd.
To Follow the Progress of Rising Rivers and Storm Surges on the Web:
- Rivers are on http://md.water.usgs.gov/rt-cgi/gen_tbl_pg
- Tide gages are on http://140.90.155.52/tidesonline/ .
- The new USGS real time tide gage at South Bethany, Delaware,is at http://md.usgs.gov/rt-cgi/gen_stn_pg?station=01484696&style=new
Possible Photo Op: Field teams will be working across the Maryland/Delaware area from Thursday until the storm is past. If you are interested in doing a field interview, call (410) 238-4209 and we will set it up.
As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science,and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2,000 organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters, contribute to the sound conservation and the economic and physical development of the nation's natural resources, and enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological, energy, and mineral resources.
In-depth information about USGS programs may be found on the USGS home page at http://www.usgs.gov . To receive the latest USGS news releases automatically by e-mail, send a request to listproc@listserver.usgs.gov . Specify the listserver(s) of interest from the following names: water-pr, geologic-pr, hazards-pr, biological-pr, mapping-pr, products-pr, lecture-pr. In the body of the message, write: subscribe (name of listserver) (your name). Example: subscribe water-pr joe smith.