Flood Hazard Awareness at Old Dominion University: Assessment and Opportunity

Abstract

Building resilience to flooding is a commitment of several universities; however, student interest in flood education programs is unclear. The goals of this research are three‐fold: 1) to determine the origin of flood messaging on the Old Dominion University (ODU) campus, 2) to assess on‐campus flood awareness, and 3) to evaluate the interest in additional flood education. This study evaluates student awareness of flooding via a survey of ODU students and contextual analysis of University warning messages. Many students experienced reduced access to campus as a result of flooding and expressed an interest in additional flood information. Some students reported receiving flood‐related information through in‐class instruction or orientation‐based programming. However, the content varies in detail, and ODU could formally integrate additional resources into outreach and flood education programming. These findings could support the development of a campus wide flood awareness program at ODU and other universities.

Changes in Streamflow Statistics and Catchment Land Uses Across Select USGS Gages in Northwest and West‐central Arkansas

“…Rainfall intensity, duration, and frequency influence runoff from the landscape, which occurs when rainfall exceeds interception, infiltration, evapotranspiration, and storage capacity. Due to climate change, temperatures are rising, and in turn, evaporation rates are also rising (Lin et al 2017; UCAR 2021). In fact, atmospheric moisture in the United States is increasing at 5% per decade, which is expected to cause more precipitation and therefore more flooding (Trenberth 1998).…”

“…Low flows caused by groundwater recharge and subsurface return flows, which is the most prevalent low flow source in the study area, are affected by soil series distribution and infiltration, hydraulic characteristics of aquifers, evapotranspiration from the watershed, topography, and climate (Smakhtin 2001). Understanding changes in low and high flows are important for managing water supply, stormwater, waste‐load allocation, reservoir storage, recreation, and wildlife conservation (Smakhtin 2001), as well as educational opportunities (Hutton and Allen 2021) and research needs (Bilotta and Peterson 2021).…”