ASSESSING FLOOD IMPACTS IN RURAL COASTAL COMMUNITIES USING LIDAR

Abstract. Coastal communities are vulnerable to floods from storm events which are further exacerbated by storm surges. Additionally, coastal towns provide specific challenges during flood events as many coastal communities are peninsular and vulnerable to inundation of road access points. Publicly available lidar data has been used to model areas of inundation and resulting flood impacts on road networks. However, these models may overestimate areas that are inaccessible as they rely on publicly available Digital Terrain Models. Through incorporation of Digital Surface Models to estimate bridge height, a more accurate model of flood impacts on rural coastal residents can be estimated.