Best Practices for Using FloodVision

The document outlines how to use FloodVision to communicate flood risks, detailing specific scenarios for storm surge and sea level rise, guidelines for the ethical depiction of private property, and technical caveats regarding the tool's 'bathtub model' approach.

• FloodVision is intended for a wide range of non-commercial users, including public officials, emergency managers, journalists, academics, and government officials contributing to FEMA Hazard Mitigation Plans.
• The tool supports several risk communication scenarios, including forecasted storm events, historic storm surge risks (such as Hurricane Sandy's 13.88 feet record at The Battery in New York City Harbor), and sea level rise projections. Along the U.S. coastline, sea levels are projected to rise 10-12 inches between 2020 and 2050, with a likely rise of about 2 feet between 2020 and 2100.
• Strict guidelines govern the use of imagery to protect privacy: visualizations may show public properties and streetscapes but must not focus on individual private homes or include personally identifiable information such as names, addresses, or faces.
• FloodVision has significant technical limitations: it uses a 'bathtub model' that assumes uniform water levels and does not account for dynamic factors like physical storm surge modeling, erosion, inland flooding, rainfall, rivers, or coastal defenses like levees that exist outside the scanned region.

APA

Climate Central (n.d.). Best Practices for Using FloodVision. https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/7FAqmpiMGlk01iNVCBMWks/bd6b97cc421121114b854d743ec29232/Best_Practices_for_Using_FloodVision.pdf

Chicago

Climate Central. Best Practices for Using FloodVision. n.d. https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/7FAqmpiMGlk01iNVCBMWks/bd6b97cc421121114b854d743ec29232/Best_Practices_for_Using_FloodVision.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Central |title=Best Practices for Using FloodVision |url=https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/7FAqmpiMGlk01iNVCBMWks/bd6b97cc421121114b854d743ec29232/Best_Practices_for_Using_FloodVision.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatecentralndbest, author = {{Climate Central}}, title = {{Best Practices for Using FloodVision}}, institution = {Climate Central}, url = {https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/7FAqmpiMGlk01iNVCBMWks/bd6b97cc421121114b854d743ec29232/Best_Practices_for_Using_FloodVision.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }