Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Only 60% of the conterminous United States has Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) through the U.S. Many communities in the United States, particularly those in rural areas, lack inundation maps due to the high cost of flood modeling. Understanding the relationship between flood inundation and floodplains is critical for ecosystem and community health and well-being, as well as targeting floodplain and riparian restoration. Publication Date: Research Org.: Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States) Sponsoring Org.: USDOE Office of Science (SC) OSTI Identifier: 1807536 Grant/Contract Number: SC0016162 Resource Type: Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript Journal Name: Water (Basel) Additional Journal Information: Journal Volume: 13 Journal Issue: 5 Related Information: Full-text and PDF are open-source and available online, but their links were not accepted by this form.Full-text: : Journal ID: ISSN 2073-4441 Publisher: MDPI Country of Publication: United States Language: English Subject: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES FLOod Probability Interpolation Tool Federal Emergency and Management Agency continuous flood hazard map flood hazard communication open-source flood hazard mapping tool probabilistic flood = ,įloodplains perform several important ecosystem services, including storing water during precipitation events and reducing peak flows, thus reducing flooding of downstream communities. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States).Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States) Jupiter Intelligence, San Mateo, CA (United States).We find that the discrete flood zones generally communicate substantially lower flood probabilities than the continuous estimates. Using publicly available data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood risk databases as well as state and national datasets, we produce continuous flood-probability maps at three example locations in the United States: Houston more » (TX), Muncy (PA), and Selinsgrove (PA). Potential advantages of FLOPIT include being open-source, relatively easy to implement, capable of creating inundation maps from agencies other than FEMA, and applicable to locations where FEMA published flood inundation maps but not flood probability. FLOPIT uses water surface elevation inundation maps for at least two return periods and creates Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) as well as inundation maps for new return levels. FLOPIT interpolates flood probabilities between water surface elevation to produce continuous flood-probability maps. Here we develop, test, and demonstrate the FLOod Probability Interpolation Tool (FLOPIT). However, this choice of communication format can miss important details and lead to biased risk assessments. Current flood probability maps typically use flood zones (for example the 1 in 100 or 1 in 500-year flood zones) to communicate flooding probabilities. Many people rely on flood probability maps to inform decisions about purchasing flood insurance, buying or selling real-estate, flood-proofing a house, or managing floodplain development. The main causes of floods in the Western United States are snowmelt and rainstorms.Understanding flood probabilities is essential to making sound decisions about flood-risk management. The main causes of floods in the Eastern United States and the Gulf Coast are hurricanes and storms. Floods, on average, cost $6 billion in average annual losses. Homes in a "100-year" floodplain have a 26% chance of flooding over a 30-year period-the length of a typical mortgage. Approximately 38% of all National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims are repetitive loss claims. Implementing local floodplain ordinances prevents approximately $1.1 billion in flood damages annually. There are three primary types of flooding, Coastal Flooding, River Flooding (Fluvial), Surface Water Flooding (Pluvial), and Other Types of Flooding. Just one inch of water can cause more than $25,000 in damage. Some private market flood insurance policies have shorter waiting periods. Many federally backed flood Insurance policies have a 30 day waiting period. More than 20% of flood claims occur in moderate- to low-risk areas. Flooding is the only natural hazard for which the Federal government provides insurance: FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). All 50 US states have experienced flooding or flash flooding in the past 5 years. Here are some more facts about flooding in the United States: In fact, 90% of natural disasters involve flooding. Floods are the most common natural disaster in the US and cause the most damage out of all natural disasters.
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