Interdisciplinary approach to flood risk and the Consequence of Flooding

Abstract

This paper describes an alternate approach to prioritizing pluvial flood risk intervention strategies, and quantifying Consequence of Flooding (CoF) by applying the methodology of Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA). The intent is to develop an integrated, efficient, and quantitative CoF assessment approach to support pre-event efforts and post-event mitigation for flooding. The CoF assessment is based on three elements: (1) probability of flooding occurrence, (2) severity of the event, and (3) damage impact control. Two case studies are presented, one with an established Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) zoning label, and the second for an unincorporated area in South Florida, USA. The results are compared with published values for flooding risk, and the outcome of the proposed method agrees with flood risk zoning label determined by FEMA. With the proposed alternate method, communities without FEMA classification due to lack of zoning map or data, could propose to FEMA potential flood insurance credit for premium reduction. This study also identified other elements to be included in future modelling efforts, such as elevation, to improve model development.