RIVER FLOODING- “LIVE DATA” NAME ______

DATE ______HOUR ___

Go to the website:

This is just a sample of the screen you will look

at. DO NOT USE THIS TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS!

DATE of last map update: ______TIME ______EDT

1. In the KEY, click on “show all locations in flood”. How many locations are in

Major flood stage? _____ Moderate flood stage?____ Minor flood stage? _____

2. What parts of the country are threatened with major floods today? Shade in those areas on the map below: (if no rivers are at major flood stage, use moderate)

3. Click on a box or circle that is experiencing major or moderate flooding. Use rivers not lakes!

Name the town and state: ______

4. Click on a circle or square that is experiencing major or moderate flooding. This should take you to the river’s hydrograph. If you don’t get a graph, try another circle. What river (don’t use lakes)is this hydrograph for?

What general information does the hydrograph tell you?

How many feet is this river’s flood major stage? ______

What is the height of the river today? (express in feet to the .1) ______

What flood stage is this river currently experiencing? ______

GO TO THE WEBSITE:

Click on the State of Michigan

5. Which rivers in Michigan are at a high risk of flooding? (click on the dots) (use 90 percentile if no high risks) list them all:

6. Click on the colored-dot that is as close to Grosse Pointe as possible. Don’t use the Detroit River. What is the name of the river or stream you selected?

7. Scroll down the page for your river to the table titledDaily Discharge statistics. What's the most recent discharge of your river (include units)?

8. What is the normal (mean) discharge? ______

What is today’s discharge? ______

What is the difference? (indicate + if above normal or – if below normal next to the number) ______

9.Look at the gage height graph. Describe the general trend of the height of the river over the past week. What may have caused the peaks?

10. The 2 hydrographs on the left show a farm and an urban area and the same about of rainfall.

How does urbanization change the peak of the stream flow?

Explain why this would happen.

How would this same amount of rain, affect flooding in an urban area vs. a rural area?