The city of Gainesville will hold a Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan public meeting on Thursday, Aug. 8 to discuss plans for areas vulnerable to future flooding.  

The meeting will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Gainesville Police Department headquarters (545 NW 8 Ave.) in the Hall of Heroes. 

The meeting will also give an overview of what critical assets are as defined by the state and what assets have been identified in Gainesville.  

City staff will also explain methods used to predict future flooding, the system being developed for ranking the severity of impact on critical assets, and how particularly vulnerable areas or assets requiring adaptation strategies are identified and addressed. 

On Thursday, the state of Florida issued an emergency preparedness declaration for tropical disturbance Invest 97L. The National Hurricane Center has since upgraded the storm to a cyclone and expects 4 to 8 inches of rain from today through Wednesday.  

The city of Gainesville’s stormwater engineer Shane Williams said even though the upcoming storm may produce flooding, it will not affect the topics at Thursday’s meeting focused on developing a state-mandated vulnerability assessment and adaptation plan. 

“We have a pretty good idea of where we have vulnerable spots in the city. Every storm adds a data point,” Williams said of Invest 97L. “The storm wouldn’t change [the meeting] because we’re looking at future rainfall conditions, what the conditions would look like in 2040 or 2070.” 

Williams and the city of Gainesville encourage residents to attend the meeting to give input on developing Gainesville’s adaptation plan. Any questions can be directed to Williams at williamses@gainesvillefl.gov or 352-334-5070.