NFIP Rate and Coverage Changes Announced

FEMA has released a 69-page bulletin about upcoming changes that take effect October 1, 2009. The bulletin details new coverage, rates, and other changes to the program.

Click here to download a copy of the bulletin.

CoCoRaHS Network Now in Arkansas!
The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network has expanded its program to Arkansas. This is a volunteer effort using low-cost measurement tools and an interactive web site to provide quality data for natural resource and research applications.

Volunteers Wanted                                   What It's All About

As the state climatologist, Mike Borengasser is coordinating Arkansas' participation in this worthwhile effort. A denser network of rain gauges can help forecast and analyze flooding. Become part of the group collecting and reporting rainfall in your area! Arkansas currently has 102 volunteers after only 2 months into the project. Some recorded nearly 15 inches of rain in May

www.cocorahs.org

ArcGIS and DFIRM Courses Offered Consecutively
The Arkansas GIS Users Forum will hold its 10th biennial meeting in Eureka Springs (October 28-30). Celebrating 20 years of mapping the Natural State, a pre-symposium workshop on October 27 will offer consecutive courses on the subjects of GIS and DFIRM.

The GIS course ($50) is a good introduction and discussion of geodatabases from the ground up, covering the basics as well as the new ArcGIS 9.X capabilities as a database and data storage format.

The DFIRM course ($50) is a 101-style introduction to the basics of FEMA DFIRMs and the wide variety of GIS-based technology available for viewing and interpreting map information.

Attendees of the pre-symposium workshops are not required to register for the entire conference.

www.argisusers.org