The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) is a tool developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in partnership with Deltares that predicts the combined impacts of coastal storms, sea level rise, and river flooding at the local scale. Planners, managers and residents can use products from the new system to help understand the exposure risk from coastal hazards (surface flooding, rising groundwater, and coastal erosion) to people, infrastructure, and resources.
Data such as those from CoSMoS help planners determine which assets – from roads to ports and parks – are most at risk, so that communities can plan for and prioritize adaptation actions. CoSMoS has also been combined with other information to show local socioeconomic impacts from different flooding events via the USGS Hazard Exposure Reporting and Analytics web tool. With hazard and exposure risk information in hand, planners can begin to determine which mitigation and adaptation strategies will work best for their communities.
Learn more about CoSMoS on the Washington Coastal Hazards Resilience Network page, including up-to-date information about the rollout of the data across Washington’s shoreline jurisdictions, links to recorded webinars and tutorials, and examples of how the tool is being used around the state.