Kevin Burns, Chief Information Officer, City of Miami
Miami has been growing exponentially over the past years, and with sea levels rising, we know we have to act now to protect our growing population. What are we going to do in 5, 10, or 15 years when those water-front homes aren’t homes anymore? How will we protect residents in areas that are susceptible to flooding and high tides? What can we do about our downtown buildings, such as one of our city hospitals which could become inaccessible if there is substantial sea levels rise? These are the questions we are asking, and we are currently looking at smart city technologies to solve this and other challenges.
Identifying the Problem
As a water city, flooding is an issue in Miami. Unfortunately, there are several primary causes:
- Severe precipitation, especially in the summer.
- King Tides (when a full moon and high tide happen at the same time, causing even higher tides than normal).
- Storm surges (including hurricanes and tropical storms).
- Gradual sea level rise.
Each of these can be an issue, but problems get even worse when things happen together. Because of the inundation, we know we have to make adaptations and also improve infrastructure around the city to pump sea water as it comes in.
Current Progress
Our first goal for exploring this problem is to understand exactly how certain sea level increases impact our city. To do this, we have been working with ESRI and their partner Fernleaf to perform 3D modeling that shows us how buildings are impacted. For example, we know that a 6-foot sea level increase would make one of our major hospitals pretty much inaccessible, and it is imperative that we understand and plan for this now since this level of sea level rise is expected to happen around 2040.
From there we were able to take the models and put them into an interactive application online. This allows us to zoom in and see individual buildings in the city, and adjust the sea level to see how each would be impacted.
Future Plans
We have several plans to expand on the work we’ve already done with modeling.
- The next step is to put sensors on all the sea walls. We will put them out on buoys that are out in the bay so we can start collecting data and marry it together with our mapping data.
- Next, we can connect these sensors to electronic signage which will notify people who live in the areas when the tides are rising. For example, a resident may park the car in the driveway not knowing that a King Tide is going to happen, and their car may become flooded. The signs would alert residents in advance.
- The next step would be to go from an electronic sign to an app that people can download so that they get warnings via push notification when the sea level is going to rise.
- Finally, this data will also be brought to the planning department so they can work on zoning regulations and planning the city. The data will help guide decisions about changes we have to make to the downtown landscape in order to protect our residents.
Our work in this area has won us a Smart Cities Challenge Grant, and also a spot on the 100 Resilient Cities. Sea level rise is one of the most important issues for Miami, and thankfully smart city technology is helping us to address this issue head on.