Download or read book Tying Flood Insurance to Flood Risk for Low Lying Structures in the Floodplain written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-08-03 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Floods take a heavy toll on society, costing lives, damaging buildings and property, disrupting livelihoods, and sometimes necessitating federal disaster relief, which has risen to record levels in recent years. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was created in 1968 to reduce the flood risk to individuals and their reliance on federal disaster relief by making federal flood insurance available to residents and businesses if their community adopted floodplain management ordinances and minimum standards for new construction in flood prone areas. Insurance rates for structures built after a flood plain map was adopted by the community were intended to reflect the actual risk of flooding, taking into account the likelihood of inundation, the elevation of the structure, and the relationship of inundation to damage to the structure. Today, rates are subsidized for one-fifth of the NFIP's 5.5 million policies. Most of these structures are negatively elevated, that is, the elevation of the lowest floor is lower than the NFIP construction standard. Compared to structures built above the base flood elevation, negatively elevated structures are more likely to incur a loss because they are inundated more frequently, and the depths and durations of inundation are greater. Tying Flood Insurance to Flood Risk for Low-Lying Structures in the Floodplain studies the pricing of negatively elevated structures in the NFIP. This report review current NFIP methods for calculating risk-based premiums for these structures, including risk analysis, flood maps, and engineering data. The report then evaluates alternative approaches for calculating risk-based premiums and discusses engineering hydrologic and property assessment data needs to implement full risk-based premiums. The findings and conclusions of this report will help to improve the accuracy and precision of loss estimates for negatively elevated structures, which in turn will increase the credibility, fairness, and transparency of premiums for policyholders.

Download or read book Flood Risk Report written by U. s. Department of Homeland Security and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Floods are naturally occurring phenomena that can and do happen almost anywhere. In its most basic form, a flood is an accumulation of water over normally dry areas. Floods become hazardous to people and property when they inundate an area where development has occurred, causing losses. Mild flood losses may have little impact on people or property, such as damage to landscaping or the generation of unwanted debris. Severe flooding can destroy buildings, ruin crops, and cause critical injuries or death. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (Risk MAP) program provides states, tribes, and local communities with flood risk information and tools that they can use to increase their resilience to flooding and better protect their citizens. By pairing accurate floodplain maps with risk assessment tools and planning and outreach support, Risk MAP has transformed traditional flood mapping efforts into an integrated process of identifying, assessing, communicating, planning for, and mitigating flood-related risks. This Flood Risk Report (FRR) provides non-regulatory information to help local or tribal officials, floodplain managers, planners, emergency managers, and others better understand their flood risk, take steps to mitigate those risks, and communicate those risks to their citizens and local businesses. Because flood risk often extends beyond community limits, the FRR provides flood risk data for the entire Flood Risk Project as well as for each individual community. This also emphasizes that flood risk reduction activities may impact areas beyond jurisdictional boundaries. Flood risk is always changing, and there may be other studies, reports, or sources of information available that provide more comprehensive information.

Download or read book A Report on Flood Hazard Mitigation written by and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Mapping the Zone written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-06-15 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Maps portray the height and extent to which flooding is expected to occur, and they form the basis for setting flood insurance premiums and regulating development in the floodplain. As such, they are an important tool for individuals, businesses, communities, and government agencies to understand and deal with flood hazard and flood risk. Improving map accuracy is therefore not an academic question-better maps help everyone. Making and maintaining an accurate flood map is neither simple nor inexpensive. Even after an investment of more than $1 billion to take flood maps into the digital world, only 21 percent of the population has maps that meet or exceed national flood hazard data quality thresholds. Even when floodplains are mapped with high accuracy, land development and natural changes to the landscape or hydrologic systems create the need for continuous map maintenance and updates. Mapping the Zone examines the factors that affect flood map accuracy, assesses the benefits and costs of more accurate flood maps, and recommends ways to improve flood mapping, communication, and management of flood-related data.

Download or read book Risk Analysis and Uncertainty in Flood Damage Reduction Studies written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-10-20 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reducing flood damage is a complex task that requires multidisciplinary understanding of the earth sciences and civil engineering. In addressing this task the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employs its expertise in hydrology, hydraulics, and geotechnical and structural engineering. Dams, levees, and other river-training works must be sized to local conditions; geotechnical theories and applications help ensure that structures will safely withstand potential hydraulic and seismic forces; and economic considerations must be balanced to ensure that reductions in flood damages are proportionate with project costs and associated impacts on social, economic, and environmental values. A new National Research Council report, Risk Analysis and Uncertainty in Flood Damage Reduction Studies, reviews the Corps of Engineers' risk-based techniques in its flood damage reduction studies and makes recommendations for improving these techniques. Areas in which the Corps has made good progress are noted, and several steps that could improve the Corps' risk-based techniques in engineering and economics applications for flood damage reduction are identified. The report also includes recommendations for improving the federal levee certification program, for broadening the scope of flood damage reduction planning, and for improving communication of risk-based concepts.

Download or read book Flood Risk Management and the American River Basin written by Committee on Flood Control Alternatives in the American River Basin and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1995-10-05 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reviews the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) investigations of flood control options for the American River basin and evaluates flood control feasibility studies for the watershed, with attention to the contingency assumptions, hydrologic methods, and other analyses supporting the flood control options. This book provides detailed comments on many technical issues, including a careful review of the 1991 National Research Council report American River Watershed Investigation, and looks beyond the Sacramento case to broader questions about the nation's approach to flood risk management. It discusses how to utilize information available about flood hazard reduction alternatives for the American River basin, the potential benefits provided by various alternatives, the impacts of alternatives on environmental resources and ecosystems, and the trade-offs inherent in any choice among alternatives which does not lie in the realm of scientists and engineers, but in the arena of public decisionmaking.

Download or read book Flood map modernization program strategy shows promise but challenges remain report to the Chairman Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity Committee on Financial Services House of Representatives written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Development and Flood Risk written by James W. Lancaster and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book sets out practical guidance in assessing flood risk as part of the development process. It describes the mechanisms and impacts of flooding, whether caused by rivers, the sea, estuaries, groundwater, overland flow, artificial drainage systems or infrastructure failure.

Download or read book Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2019-03-29 with total page 101 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Flooding is the natural hazard with the greatest economic and social impact in the United States, and these impacts are becoming more severe over time. Catastrophic flooding from recent hurricanes, including Superstorm Sandy in New York (2012) and Hurricane Harvey in Houston (2017), caused billions of dollars in property damage, adversely affected millions of people, and damaged the economic well-being of major metropolitan areas. Flooding takes a heavy toll even in years without a named storm or event. Major freshwater flood events from 2004 to 2014 cost an average of $9 billion in direct damage and 71 lives annually. These figures do not include the cumulative costs of frequent, small floods, which can be similar to those of infrequent extreme floods. Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States contributes to existing knowledge by examining real-world examples in specific metropolitan areas. This report identifies commonalities and variances among the case study metropolitan areas in terms of causes, adverse impacts, unexpected problems in recovery, or effective mitigation strategies, as well as key themes of urban flooding. It also relates, as appropriate, causes and actions of urban flooding to existing federal resources or policies.

Download or read book Affordability of National Flood Insurance Program Premiums written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-08-06 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is housed within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and offers insurance policies that are marketed and sold through private insurers, but with the risks borne by the U.S. federal government. NFIP's primary goals are to ensure affordable insurance premiums, secure widespread community participation in the program, and earn premium and fee income that covers claims paid and program expenses over time. In July 2012, the U.S. Congress passed the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act (Biggert-Waters 2012), designed to move toward an insurance program with NFIP risk-based premiums that better reflected expected losses from floods at insured properties. This eliminated policies priced at what the NFIP called "pre-FIRM subsidized" and "grandfathered." As Biggert-Waters 2012 went into effect, constituents from multiple communities expressed concerns about the elimination of lower rate classes, arguing that it created a financial burden on policy holders. In response to these concerns Congress passed The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 (HFIAA 2014). The 2014 legislation changed the process by which pre-FIRM subsidized premiums for primary residences would be removed and reinstated grandfathering. As part of that legislation, FEMA must report back to Congress with a draft affordability framework. Affordability of National Flood Insurance Program Premiums: Report 1 is the first part of a two-part study to provide input as FEMA prepares their draft affordability framework. This report discusses the underlying definitions and methods for an affordability framework and the affordability concept and applications. Affordability of National Flood Insurance Program Premiums gives an overview of the demand for insurance and the history of the NFIP premium setting. The report then describes alternatives for determining when the premium increases resulting from Biggert-Waters 2012 would make flood insurance unaffordable.

Download or read book Financial Management of Flood Risk written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2016-07-29 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Disasters present a broad range of human, social, financial, economic and environmental impacts, with potentially long-lasting effects. This report applies the lessons from the OECD’s analysis of disaster risk financing practices and its risk guidance to the specific case of floods.

Download or read book Flood Hazards written by Jessica Lamond and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2011-07-28 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A 360-degree view of the response to flood risk As major flooding events around the world show, the impact of flooding on the built environment can cause widespread chaos. These flood events form part of a wider pattern of increasing flood frequency coupled with increased vulnerability of the built environment to flood hazard. Flood risk can unite or divide communities and the responses to potential risk can range from denial to perfect adaptation. Drawing on the experience of communities and experts, Flood Hazards: Impacts and Responses for the Built Environment offers guidance on managing urban flooding and flood risk. It brings together a diversity of viewpoints and experiences on flood impacts and responses from leading academics, flood restoration specialists, emergency responders, architects, planning consultants, insurers, policymakers, and community representatives. By including the perspective of the community and the views of households and businesses at risk, this volume makes a unique contribution to the literature on flood management. The chapter organization loosely corresponds to the phases of the disaster management cycle, covering emergency preparation and response; recovery, repair, and reconstruction; and mitigation and adaptation. Contributors examine the types of impacts and discuss forecasting and emergency warning. They describe processes and good practice in recovery of flood-damaged property from the perspectives of the insurance industry, restorers, and loss adjusters. The book also deals with business continuity, land-use planning, property-level and infrastructure protection, and urban drainage, looking at the regulation and design of the built environment as one way to reduce risk. A section on community response to flooding sheds light on the experiences of flood-affected families. Written for students, practitioners, and researchers in flood risk management, as well as for professionals who may encounter flood-related issues in the course of their work, this cross-disciplinary book makes a valuable contribution towards designing a future built environment that is more resilient to flood risk.

Download or read book Progress Report written by Jian Shen and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement written by United States. Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 1104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Flood Risk and Social Justice written by Zoran Vojinovic and published by IWA Publishing. This book was released on 2012-03-05 with total page 582 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Flood Risk and Social Justice is a response to the rising significance of floods and flood-related disasters worldwide, as an initiative to promote a socially just approach to the problems of flood risk. It integrates the human-social and the technological components to provide a holistic view. This book treats flooding as a multi-dimensional human and natural world tragedy that must be accommodated using all the social and technological means that can be mobilised before, during and after the flooding event. It covers socially just flood risk mitigation practices which necessitate a wide range of multidisciplinary approaches, starting from social and wider environmental needs, including feedback cycles between human needs and technological means. Flood Risk and Social Justice looks at how to judge whether a risk is acceptable or not by addressing an understanding of social and phenomenological considerations rather than simple calculations of probabilities multiplied by unwanted outcomes and their balancing between costs and benefits. It is argued that the present ‘flood management’ practice should be largely replaced by the social justice approach where particular attention is given to deciding what is the right thing to do within a much wider context. Thus it insists upon the validity of modes of human understanding which cannot be addressed within the limited context of modern science. Flood Risk and Social Justice is written to support a wide range of audiences and seeks to improve the dialogue between researchers and practitioners from different disciplines (including post-graduate engineering, environmental and social science students, industry practitioners, academics, planners, environmental advocacy groups and environmental law professionals) who have a strong interest in a new kind of social justice work that can act as a continuous counter-balance to the various mechanisms that unceasingly give rise to profound injustices. More information about this book can be found in this article written for the WaterWiki by the author: http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/FloodRiskandSocialJustice Authors: Zoran Vojinovic is Associate Professor at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands, with almost 20 years of consulting and research experience in various aspects of water industry in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, Europe, Central/South America and the Caribbean. Michael B. Abbott is Emeritus Professor at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands, and a Director of the European Institute for Industrial Leadership in Brussels. He founded and developed the disciplines of Computational Hydraulics and Hydroinformatics and co-founded, the Journal of Hydroinformatics with Professor Roger Falconer.

Download or read book Flood Risk Management in Europe written by Selina Begum and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-06-17 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This valuable edition brings together 25 peer reviewed articles on technical, socio-economic, environmental and policy aspects of flood risk management. Some emerging technologies are presented and several future challenges are identified. Thus the book forms an excellent reference for the engineers, scientists, planners, policy-makers, researchers, insurance industry and all the practitioners involved in flood risk management.

Download or read book HC 737 Strategic Flood Risk Management written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given financial constraints, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency have done a good job in improving the cost effectiveness of their approach to flood risk management. They have adopted rational methods to prioritise spending on both new capital flood defences and maintaining existing ones. However, risks remain to the sustainability of current levels of flood protection. The Agency will need to make difficult decisions about how it prioritises its maintenance budget, including some defences where it will need to reduce or stop maintenance. In these cases, there is a risk that lack of maintenance will mean that capital costs are incurred sooner, when defences require replacement earlier. Since our evidence session, the Agency has published a long term investment strategy, which presents a number of flooding scenarios and outlines how much funding would be needed to protect against these.