Three federal agencies have announced plans for remapping parts of the East Coast where Hurricane Sandy altered seafloors and shorelines last year.
NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are using emergency supplemental funds that Congress provided to survey coastal waters and shorelines, acquiring data that will update East Coast land maps and nautical charts.
Using ships, aircraft and satellites, the agencies will measure water depths, look for submerged debris and record altered shorelines in high-priority areas from South Carolina to Maine.
The areas to be remapped will be based on their relative danger to navigation, effects from the storm and discussions with state and local officials and the maritime industry.
The data, much of which will be stored at NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center and through NOAA’s Digital Coast, will be open to local, state and federal agencies, academia and the general public.
The information can be applied to updating nautical charts, removing marine debris, replenishing beaches, making repairs and planning for future storms and coastal resilience.
Preliminary U.S. damage estimates are near $50 billion, making Sandy the second-costliest cyclone to hit the United States since 1900.