FLOOD06680

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Flood Damage in the United States, 1926-2000
• Date: 6/1/2000
• Prepared By: NOAA
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

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F. Recommendations for Future Collection of Flood Damage Estimates
A series of natural disasters in the 1990s, accompanied by skyrocketing costs of federal
disaster assistance, has prompted calls for development of national databases to record losses
from past and current disasters (Mileti 1999, NRC 1999, Heinz Center 2000). The NWS damage
estimates are not reliable enough to be a basis for certain decisions regarding flood policy, such
as setting specific flood insurance premiums or evaluating the cost-effectiveness of particular
hazard mitigation measures. Better damage data are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of
mitigation measures designed to reduce flood losses.

Substantial improvement of flood damage records in the U.S. would require additional
funding and should have a clear purpose based on intended uses of the data. A committee of the
National Research Council (NRC) points out that reliable loss data are critical for cost-effective
hazard mitigation and planning for future disaster response. The NRC (1999) report
recommends measures for developing a comprehensive and consistent database of losses
resulting from natural disasters. Recommendations include:

(1) One agency of the federal government should be responsible for compiling the loss
data, working with states and localities to collect the data. The Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA) within the Department of Commerce is suggested as the agency best-suited to the task.

(2) The data should focus on direct losses (loss in asset value), including losses that are not
reimbursed by insurance or disaster aid.

(3) A uniform framework should be used in reporting and compiling loss estimates,
classified according to who initially bears the loss (government, businesses, individuals, etc.) and
the type of loss (property, agricultural products, deaths and injuries, cleanup and response costs,
temporary housing, etc.). These loss estimates should be more complete and accurate than the
initial estimates made at the time of a disaster and should include events that may not qualify for
a presidential disaster declaration.

(4) The database need not contain loss information for every event; rather, the objective
should be to compile data on disasters that cross some threshold. The definition of a "major"
natural disaster for which loss data are to be compiled should be consistent with expectations for
how the data will be used.

Clearly, the NWS flood damage database does not provide the level of accuracy and detail
envisioned in the NRC recommendations, nor is it intended to do so. Nevertheless, the collection
of damage information in severe weather events by NWS field offices provides a model, of sorts,
for nationwide collection of damage data. It is administered fairly uniformly throughout the
nation, collects information on multiple natural hazards, focuses on direct losses including some
unreimbursed losses, and is not limited to declared disasters. As the NWS field offices collect
storm damage information, they are in a good position to identify weather events that appear to
meet whatever minimum criteria might be established for loss data to be compiled.