Last year, I blogged about how you can get outside to explore the Mississippi Coast and the high water community markers. The “Know Your Line: Be Flood Aware” High Water Mark Initiative was created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with a goal to raise flood-risk awareness by posting high water markers in prominent places within a community to show where flood waters have risen in the past.
This year, I have two digital resources to share with you to bring the outside into your home or classroom!
High water marks StoryMap
Together with the Geospatial Education & Outreach (GEO) Project, we developed an interactive map (called a StoryMap) of the high water marks. This resource provides an introduction, photos of each location, reflection questions and additional resilience resources. It also has an immersive 360 Photo Explorer that allows you to control the image in all directions to look up, down, left, right and even zoom in.
Guide to Mississippi Community Markers
We also published a detailed guide for each marker. This guide includes images of each location, as well as a close-up photo of the high water mark plaques. This PDF version can be printed at home or school for a hard copy. The parking section for each high water mark provides details if you are traveling by car or school bus.
Both the online “Guide to Mississippi Community Markers” StoryMap and the “Guide to Mississippi Community Markers: High Water Marks” PDF are great resources to use with students for an in-class or virtual field trip! After going to or viewing a location online, ask reflection questions. Questions like “What would be underwater if the water was that high right now?” prompt students to look at their surroundings and make the connection that current conditions are not the same as past or future conditions. Or, questions like “Are you prepared for future storm surge and flooding? Do you know where to find resources to prepare your home and your community?” cause students to think about how they might be impacted by storm surge, and you can then connect them to resources for how to prepare.
Homeowners Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards
The Gulf of America Alliance, the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and Smart Home America recently updated the Gulf versions of the Homeowners Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards. The handbooks help homeowners reduce risks to family and property, and they are available for all Gulf states, including Alabama and Mississippi.
We are here to help guide you through understanding your risk to sea-level rise through to facilitating action. Check out our new website for PLACE: SLR.
Meet the author
