Two years ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District was already using Story Maps to communicate the scope of its $4-billion Coastal Storm Risk Management efforts in Port Arthur, Freeport and Orange County, Texas. The CSRM Program is intended to reduce the risk of storm surge impacts along the Texas coast. The effort includes flood risk reduction, coastal storm risk reduction, floodwalls, levees and gates. ArcGIS Story Maps stitch together maps, illustrations, narrative text and other multimedia content into a web-based, interactive layout.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Story Maps became the de-facto tool for communicating project information to local communities that could no longer attend public meetings.