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B. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION Indian River County is located in southeast central Florida, along the Atlantic Ocean coast. The County has a total area of approximately 543 square miles (347,520 acres) of which 41.1 square miles (26,298 acres) are water, and 502 square miles (321,280 acres) are land area. Included in the land area are five (5) municipalities containing approximately 37.2 square miles (23,830 acres). Indian River County is about 33 miles wide from east to west and 22 miles long from north to south. In addition to the Atlantic Ocean on the east, the County is bounded by Brevard County on the north, St. Lucie County on the south and Okeechobee and Osceola Counties on the west. The mainland topography of Indian River County is generally low in elevation, without significant deviation. However, two ridges parallel the coast, one about 1 mile inland from the Indian River with elevations up to 30 feet, the other about 10 miles inland with similar elevations. The coastal barrier islands have typical dune topography with dune elevations of about 15 feet. In Indian River County, the average rainfall is approximately 55 inches per year. This rainfall is unevenly distributed, much of it occurring during the summer and early fall months. The two geographic ridges that parallel the coast generally divide the drainage area of Indian River County. Areas west of the inland ridge are relatively flat and drain westward to the St. John's Marsh, aided by extensive canals, which have been constructed for agricultural use. The basin area between the ridges is generally low and relatively flat. The South Prong of the St. Sebastian River and a network of manmade canals provide drainage of the northern portion of this basin area. The central and southern portions have essentially no natural watercourses. This area is drained by an extensive network of manmade canals and ditches that are interconnected and joined with Main Relief, North Relief, and South Relief Canals and that discharge into the Indian River. The occurrence of floods is an important concern for communities with coasts subject to storm events, or for any community with water bodies and waterways having flood hazard areas. A flood hazard is any land area that is susceptible to being inundated by water from any source. Flooding is a temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas. Floods can occur throughout the Indian River County area anytime during the year; however, they are most frequent during the rainy season from May to October. The streams and canals in the low area between the parallel ridges, as well as those that discharge into the St. John's River, are subject to flooding from prolonged heavy rainfalls. Indian River County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan Basic Page 40