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HAZUS Overview:
Program Overview
Hardware, Software & Data Requirements
Ongoing Development
Current Projects & User Groups
FAQs
Publications
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Program Overview
HAZUS® Multihazard Risk Assessment Tool
Under agreements with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), NIBS develops HAZUS®, a nationally applicable GIS-based tool for estimating hurricane, flood and earthquake damage and economic loss. HAZUS is used to plan for hazard resistant construction, prudent land use, emergency preparedness, and promoting awareness of threats. Federal and state agencies use HAZUS to support real-time response after a disaster occurs. Expert committees provide technical oversight. NIBS also provides ongoing user technical support to HAZUS users and software bug fixes based on user input.
Advanced Severe Storm Coastal Risk Assessment Model
NIBS has collaborated with NASA Stennis Space Center to create a first-of-its-kind model for the combined effects of wind, waves, surge and tides in hurricanes. The use of NASA high-resolution satellite data to improve coastal flooding predictions also was investigated. New modeling capabilities using remotely sensed data collected by NASA satellites, as well as other NASA-funded resources, is available for incorporation into a future version of the Hurricane Model of HAZUS. This project will be coordinated with the coastal component of the Flood Model in the FEMA HAZUS project.
Multihazard Average Annualized Loss Studies for the U.S.
Under a contract with FEMA and with the oversight of the Multihazard Mitigation Council, NIBS used HAZUS-MH MR2 to update a 1999 national average annualized loss (AAL) study for earthquakes (FEMA 366), and to create the first nationwide AAL study for hurricanes in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast states and Hawaii. The new hurricane and earthquake studies include annualized economic losses, shelter requirements and generated debris in both tabular and map format. The earthquake study also estimates casualties. For running these studies revised residential valuations were incorporated into HAZUS.
National 100-Year Flood Studies
Under a cotnract with FEMA, NIBS is conducting 100-year state loss studies for riverine flood hazards using HAZUS-MH MR3 with Patches 1 and 2. Quality Assurance is being provided for all state flood studies and a final report will be prepared with maps and tables of values by county and by state for building and contents economic loss, building count, and shelter requirements. Alaska is not being studied because of of lack of hydrologic data, and Delaware and Hawaii are not included because all of their counties also require coastal analysis.
Flood Model Validation Study
Undera contract with FEMA, NIBS is conducting Level 2 studies using HAZUS-MH MR3 with Patches 1 and 2 to validate HAZUS Flood Model results. Study regions include the Lower Feather River in Central Valley, California to test the effect of levees, White Oak Bayou in Harris County, Texas as a large urban area, Escambia/Santa Rosa Counties, Florida for a coastal analysis with barrier islands and a large bay, Pigeon Creek, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin as a small watershed community, and Pecatonica River in Darlington, Wisconsin. Studies are also being conducted to test the sensitivity of flood depths based on topography with varying levels of accuracy and the validity of a flood boundary and flood depths based on the centroid of the grid cells vs. the edge.
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