FloodMapp, the world’s leading tech company in scalable, real-time flood intelligence, will provide the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) operational flood inundation and analytics data feeds including assessment of potential damage to properties.
Awarded through the DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program, FloodMapp will deploy real-time impact analytics to assist FEMA in understanding flood impacts to people, property and critical infrastructure before, during and after flood events. FloodMapp’s dynamic flood inundation and analytics layers will provide FEMA greater situational intelligence to support a common operational picture for its National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Better understanding the source, location, and depth of floodwaters could enable the NFIP to estimate the impacts of flood events more accurately to inform its actions in support of policyholders.
In the US, tropical cyclones, flooding and severe storms account for billions of dollars in damages each year and since 1980 have also been responsible for the deaths of more than 200 people. In the past 10 years, floods have caused an average of $5.4 Billion* in annual damages, and tropical cyclones more than ten times this amount – an average of $55.5 Billion* in annual damage, much of which is contributed by flooding through storm surge and high intensity precipitation. These “billion dollar disasters” also contribute to distress, disruption and loss to communities, families and individuals.
Most emergency management agencies rely on static flood studies (for example, 1-in-100-year flood models). These static models are based on probabilistic scenarios and were primarily designed for planning and construction, not emergency management and disaster response.
A huge challenge for emergency managers is that every flood is different. When events unfold, there is a genuine lack of scalable operational situational awareness meaning, there is often a lack of location-specific intelligence available to agencies. In turn, this results in an absence of common understanding of flood inundation extent and depth.
FloodMapp’s real-time flood modelling technology was purpose built for emergency management. Through years of research and development, FloodMapp created the Dynamic Automated Scalable Hydroinformatics model, DASH. DASH simulates coastal, riverine and pluvial flooding with an ability to scale across vast areas and provide emergency managers with real-time situational intelligence (inundation extent, depth, and analytics) data before, during, and after flood events.
Developed by a multidisciplinary team of flood engineers, hydrology experts, data scientists, and software engineers, DASH powers FloodMapp’s products ForeCast, NowCast and PostCast, delivering real-time flood modelling across a national scale, purpose built for emergency managers.
For FEMA, an organisation with a mission to help people and communities before, during, and after disasters, this integration with FloodMapp has synergies on many levels.
FloodMapp CTO and Co-Founder Ryan Prosser said that after demonstrated success in Australia and the US, FloodMapp is excited to operationalize its technology on a national scale in the US.
“These products are already being used operationally today in Australia and the United States to help government agencies coordinate targeted evacuations, inform road closures and operational traffic routing, and fast track community recovery with targeted distribution of funding and resources. We have successfully supported emergency managers within local, state, and federal government in Australia through some of the worst flooding the country has ever seen.”
FloodMapp CEO and Co-Founder Juliette Murphy is proud to work with FEMA and help build a safer, more resilient future:
“We are now excited to support FEMA and DHS through this project where our technology can provide the intelligence needed to improve resilience and fast track community recovery. DHS's commitment to advancing science and technology is fantastic. Their leadership to truly innovate with cutting edge technologies is inspiring. We’re honored to be awarded this contract and I believe that together, we will make a big impact!”
“I look forward to exploring with FloodMapp how their predictive and real-time flood analysis can improve our understanding of major flood events as they unfold,” said Jeffrey Jackson, FEMA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Federal Insurance, which oversees the delivery of flood insurance for the NFIP. “Timely decision making is critical to support our policyholders as they face devastation from flooding and begin their recovery.”
DHS is committed to finding and using cutting-edge technologies and scientific talent in its quest to make America safer. Through DHS’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program, a highly competitive international tender process, FloodMapp was chosen for its unmatched ability to deliver asset-specific flood intelligence, at scale, and in real-time.
*Attributed to the National Centers for Environmental Information
Commenti