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Monitoring Storm Tide, Flooding, and Precipitation From Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, September 2017

Open-File Report 2019-1065
Prepared in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency
By:
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20191065

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Abstract

Hurricane Maria made landfall south of Yabucoa Harbor, Puerto Rico, as a category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour on September 20, 2017. The hurricane devastated much of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Federal Emergency Management Agency, installed a temporary monitoring network of 13 water-level and barometric pressure sensors along the coast of Puerto Rico prior to the storm. In addition to the temporary sensors, the USGS maintains 99 permanent real-time streamgages and 36 real-time precipitation stations in Puerto Rico. The real-time data, updated hourly, during and after the hurricane are displayed in the USGS Flood Event Viewer (https://stn.wim.usgs.gov/FEV/#MariaSeptember2017) and in the USGS National Water Information System.

The USGS measured 181 coastal and riverine high-water marks throughout Puerto Rico after the storm. Water elevations are referenced to the Puerto Rico Vertical Datum of 2002 (PRVD02) and local datums in Puerto Rico and to the U.S. Virgin Islands Vertical Datum of 2009 (VIVD09) in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Data from the Hurricane Maria storm-tide network are available in tab-delimited, American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format and Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) format by site for each sensor through the USGS Flood Event Viewer.

Suggested Citation

Byrne, M.J., Sr., 2019, Monitoring storm tide, flooding, and precipitation from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, September 2017: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2019–1065,16 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20191065.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

ISSN: 0196-1497 (print)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Hurricane Maria Storm Tide, Flood Monitoring, and Precipitation
  • Elevation Surveys
  • Data Presentation
  • Conclusion
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Monitoring storm tide, flooding, and precipitation from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, September 2017
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2019-1065
DOI 10.3133/ofr20191065
Year Published 2019
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center
Description vi, 16 p.
Country United States
Other Geospatial Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands
Online Only (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details