USING GIS TO RAPIDLY ASSESS FLOOD DAMAGE, SOURIS RIVER, ND

On Wednesday, June 22, 2011, the Souris River overtopped levees within the city of Minot, North Dakota, inundating over 20% of the city. Of a population of approximately 44,000, over 11,000 were evacuated. Over 4,000 homes and many schools, public buildings and businesses sustained extensive flood damage. Surrounding communities also experienced extensive flood damage. In an effort to encourage residents to rebuild and remain in their communities, the Minot Area Community Foundation (MACF) established the Minot Area Recovery Fund(MACF). MACF partnered with Minot State University’s Great Plains Center for Community Research and Service to design and implement a survey to assess the needs of flood victims. Faculty and students from the Department of Geoscience at MSU coded survey responses and entered the results into a GIS using ESRI ArcGIS 10 software. This allowed for rapid visualization in assessing the needs of flood victims and was used to delineate those needs.