Mr. Casavant is a Staff Geographer at Dewberry with a B.S. in Geography conferred by The Pennsylvania State University, possessing over a decade of experience using ArcGIS. His experience at Dewberry is broad and diverse, supporting both riverine and coastal flood hazard studies from their origins in the field through post-production from New York to Florida. He was deployed to the field for high-water mark surveys and public assistance facilitation for federal disaster response and recovery missions after Tropical Storms Irene and Lee in 2011, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Mr. Casavant has also supported other various hazard mitigation efforts, delivering mapping products for the Colorado Water Conversation Board and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. Mr. Casavant earned his accreditation as a Certified Floodplain Manager in 2009, demonstrating his knowledge of national standards and programs of floodplain management.
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Hurricane Sandy Public Assistance. In cooperation with FEMA and other partners, Dewberry selected Mr. Casavant for long-term deployment on short notice in November 2012 to areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Responsibilities include the facilitation of training classes for first responders, federal background checks of independent building inspection contractors, and ensuring the privacy and security of personally-identifiable information.
Post-Disaster High-Water Mark Survey. Following Tropical Storms Irene and Lee in September 2011, Mr. Casavant was deployed to upstate New York to conduct high-water mark surveys. Responsibilities include recordation of geographic coordinates using GPS, documentation of sites with photographs and detailed observations, and the measurement and the physical identification of water levels for further engineering surveys and studies.
Coastal Field Reconnaissance. As a part of digital flood insurance rate map (DFIRM) production, field reconnaissance is required to ensure accurate input parameters for coastal flood hazard modeling. Dewberry has selected Mr. Casavant on multiple occasions to conduct coastal fieldwork from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast of Florida. Responsibilities include transect and site selection, documentation of shoreline conditions and structures, observation of natural and built environments, marshland carding, and ground-truthing.
Coastal Surge Surface Extrapolation. Mr. Casavant has developed coastal floodplain polygons from ADCIRC water surface elevation outputs and digital elevation models (DEMs) for counties in FEMA Regions II and III. Responsibilities include collecting and organizing input data, extrapolating raw surge point coverages using proprietary toolsets, creating triangulated irregular networks (TINs) and rasters, and performing quality control of floodplain polygon outputs.
Colorado Flood Threat Bulletin. During the monsoon season from May to September, the Colorado Water Conservation Board requests that Dewberry deliver daily risk assessment and interactive mapping products to communicate flood hazards to the public, local and state officials, and other stakeholders. Daily responsibilities include procurement and analysis of cumulative radar data from the National Weather Service, map production utilizing ArcGIS and TileMill, and web publishing of daily flood threat bulletins in addition to short-, medium- and long-range flood threat outlooks.
North Carolina LOMR Processing. In coordination with the State of North Carolina and FEMA, the North Carolina LOMR Group serves to revise DFIRMs as the result of changes to flood hazards based on engineering projects statewide. Responsibilities include production of mapping attachments for Letters of Map Revision (LOMRs), updates and maintenance of DFIRM geodatabases, and revision of flood insurance study (FIS) reports.
Susquehanna River Flood Inundation Mapping. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission asked Dewberry to develop flood inundation zones in the vicinity of USGS gages within New York and Pennsylvania in order to visualize flood hazard risk to affected areas. Responsibilities include creation of flood inundation zones, editing depth grids, incorporation of products into deliverable geodatabases, and production of map panels for end user utilization.
North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program. This is an ongoing project sponsored by the State of North Carolina and FEMA to mitigate flood risk to residents, businesses, state and local governments, and other stakeholders. Efforts focused on providing stakeholders with seamless statewide flood hazard mapping in order to deliver on aforementioned goals. Responsibilities include quality control of DFIRMs, production of FIS reports, and ongoing maintenance of mapping products.
Justin Casavant 