An integrated web framework for HAZUS-MH flood loss estimation analysis

Abstract

Flood emergency management practices cover various aspects of flooding, such as demography, infrastructure, economy, transportation, and agriculture. Emergency managers and local authorities work to understand existing and potential impacts of flooding in their communities. HAZUS is one of the most widely used GIS-based desktop software packages designed to help emergency managers to simulate floods and observe their possible effects in their communities. Using HAZUS, emergency managers can prioritize regions to receive help, allocate resources, and plan mitigation measures in the disaster area. However, the system has limitations in terms of its technical requirements, the number of flood scenarios and data options, accessibility, and performance. In this study, we present an integrated and scalable web framework for HAZUS-MH flood loss estimation analysis. By taking advantage of the Iowa Flood Center’s extensive flood inundation map repository for Iowa, we could enable interactive analysis between flood map raster and census data to demonstrate flooding impacts in Iowa communities. High-resolution pre-computed flood inundation maps allowed us to execute damage and loss analyses within seconds. Using visualization techniques on the web, users can access damage and loss analysis without specific software or technical expertise. Moreover, by connecting new data sources, we also enabled many different analyses through the web-based system, including agricultural damage and loss analysis and flooded transportation segments. The generalized architecture of the system allows the framework to analyze any region and community.