The Harris County Flood Control District and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are partnering to deliver the Harris County Modeling, Assessment and Awareness Project, or MAAPnext. MAAPnext is a county-wide flood hazard assessment project that will use the latest available technology and data to produce a comprehensive set of flood hazard maps and information for the 23 watersheds within Harris County.

MAAPnext is being delivered in coordination with FEMA’s Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (Risk MAP) program, a nationwide program to reduce flood risks, and Hollaway serves as the Community Awareness and Engagement Team for this largescale flood risk communication endeavor within one of the nation’s most populated and flood-prone counties.

Since the project’s initiation in 2019, Hollaway has supported the project developing a detailed Community Awareness and Engagement Plan, which includes the following strategic communications and educational components:

• Core messaging to be incorporated into all engagement materials and activities
• An implementation plan for strategic, countywide communications across the broad and diverse Harris County constituency
• Community Advisory Group, comprised of community members throughout Harris County, as recommended by the four Harris County Commissioners’ Offices and the Harris County Judge’s Office
• Technical Advisory Group comprised of technical experts with diverse backgrounds ranging from professors throughout Texas to professional engineers.
• Website design, development, and coordination with Harris County resources to support www.maapnext.org
• An online, educational flood risk mapping tool to provide individualized reports to residents and property owners based on their address
• Execution of digital media campaigns, as well as public service announcements, to bring awareness to flood risk within the county
• Social media management
• Graphic design and video production
• Tiered stakeholder meetings, including elected official briefings, Floodplain Administrator engagement, meetings with special interest groups and organizations, and meetings with the general public, to provide widespread understanding
• Provision of strategic media coordination and editorial calendars

More information about this county-wide flooding initiative is available at the MAAPnext webpage, www.maapnext.org.