A Systematic Revision of the NFIP Claims Hazard Data in Florida for Flood Risk Assessment

Abstract

The hazard components of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims data in Florida were systematically analyzed and revised in the current study. The provided fields in NFIP claims data are not always complete or accurate and are often missing. The authors associated each claim to a proper flood hazard event by updating the provided catastrophe number using the National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (best track data). The claims with presumably incorrect cause of loss fields were identified and revised by adding a variety of other available information to claims data. These datasets included tropical cyclone events, rainfall maxima, and distances to the nearest coast. The enhanced information assisted in identifying the cause or likelihood of a hazard event or attributing a particular hazard event to a loss claim. The revised NFIP claims data will be intensively used to validate the outcomes from flood hazard (i.e., surge, wave and inland flooding) models and to develop a flood vulnerability model in the forthcoming Florida Public Flood Loss Model (FPFLM).