Flood Emergency Response Planning: How to Protect Your Business from a Natural Disaster RIC005 Speakers: Tom Chan, CEO, Global Risk Miyamoto Greg Bates, Principal, Global Risk Consultants
Learning Objectives At the end of this session, you will have basic understanding of flood risks and needs for creating a flood emergency response plan: Learning Flood Basics: Type and Risks Identifying Facility Flood Exposure Understanding Flood Risk Reduction Options Creating a Flood Emergency Response Plan
Top 20 Nat-Cat Insured Losses 1970-2011 6/13/2008Cedar Rapids, IA flood. Source: Boston Globe
60,000,000,000 US Flood Damage 1903-2014 Average Flood Loss of $5.4Billion in Damages/Year US Flood Damage in 2014 $ (NOAA) 50,000,000,000 40,000,000,000 LOSS ($) 30,000,000,000 20,000,000,000 10,000,000,000-1903 1906 1909 1912 1915 1918 1921 1924 1927 1930 1933 1936 1939 1942 1945 1948 1951 1954 1957 1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 2014 YEAR
Flood Basics Floods happen when water (from rivers, oceans, bays, lakes canals, etc.) overflows normal boundaries or when storm water runoff causes flash flooding. 6/13/2008Cedar Rapids, IA flood. Source: Boston Globe
Flood Control Systems Dams retain flood waters upstream during intense rains and release waters after rains stop. River Realignment to increase capacity and flow. Flood Plain Management by designating areas to retain flood waters and keep waters away from population centers. Drainage Canals and Channels add capacity to drain flood waters. Flood Gates controls amount of water coming into or out of a site. Levees, Dikes and Flood Walls are physical barriers to keep out flood waters. Pumps to pump out flood waters (to other side of flood walls or dikes). Reforestation to change the landscape to improve water absorption/retention and slow flood build-up. Maintenance dredging of major channels to ensure depth and reduce debris so water will flow faster.
Flood Types Storm Surge from hurricanes and typhoons. Affects coastal areas. Tsunamis following major earthquakes. Riverine Flooding is in-land flooding along rivers that can be very deep (3-6m or more). Cause is usually heavy runoff (e.g., snow melt) and rains of long duration. Flash Flooding is sudden flooding from surface runoff due to inability of the ground/surface to absorb rainfall. Coastal Flooding is typically shallow (1m or less) flooding by sea water, due to higher than average tides combined with heavy rains/ runoff. Global Warming causes rising seas; which will affect all coastal areas like Bangkok, New York and Shanghai.
Flood Types Storm Surge Source: NOAA, FEMA and USGS
Flood Types - Tsunamis M9.0 Japan Earthquake March 11, 2011 Source: Yahoo News and Miyamoto InternaAonal
Flood Types Riverine Flooding 2011 Thailand Flood Source: GeBy
Flood Types Flash Flooding Sept. 9, 2014 Nevada Flooding. I- 15 flood damage near Moapa, NV from 4 inches of rain in 2 hours from remnants of Hurricane Norbert. Sources: Associated Press and Wall Street Journal
Flood Types Coastal Flooding and Global Warming Source: nwclimate.org and NOAA
Factors Affecting Flood Levels Rainfall Intensity and Duration - The government has this data for every part of the country. There are rain gages all over the country. Ground Saturation - Saturated soils will no longer absorb and retain flood waters. Landscape - Forests retain water better than farms; which are better than lawns; which are better than asphalt. Development - Human development reduces land's ability to absorb and drain flood waters. Development can also reduce a flood plain and squeeze the river channel. Topography - Slope sites drain faster and flat sites slower. Valleys will retain flood waters. Flood Control Systems - Drain and protect an area from flooding. Tides - High tides make flooding worse.
Key Questions Likelihood of flooding in your area Are you in a flood zone? What flood sources are significant? What would be the impact on your site in case of a flood? Do you have flood protection in place? What and how much protection does it provide? How do you mitigate the risk?
Flood Exposure Identification WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF BEING FLOODED? The term "100- year flood" has caused much confusion for people not familiar with staysycs. Another way to look at flood risk is to think of the odds that a 100- year flood will happen someyme during the life of a 30- year mortgage - 26% chance for a structure located in the SFHA. P=1- [1- (1/T)] n. P = Probability, T = storm return period, n=no of yrs. Chance of Flooding over a Period of Years Period 10- yr flood 25- yr flood 50- yr flood 100- yr flood 1 year 10% 4% 2% 1% 10 years 65% 34% 18% 10% 30 years 96% 71% 45% 26% 50 years 99% 87% 64% 39% 100 years 100% 98% 87% 63% Even these numbers do not convey the true flood risk because they focus on the larger, less frequent, floods. If a house is low enough, it may be subject to the 10- or 25- year flood. During a 30- year mortgage, it may have a 26% chance of being hit by the 100- year flood, but the odds are 96% (nearly guaranteed) that it will be hit by a 10- year flood. Compare those odds to the only 1-2% chance that the house will catch fire during the same 30- year mortgage.
Source: Google Maps Identifying Flood Exposure Demo of Online Flood Mapping Tools Overview of free online tools. Online flood zone determination. Downloading a flood map for your site. Understanding flood zones and risks. How to contest a flood zone designation if you are above a flood zone, to decrease insurance costs.
Flood Exposure Identification Source: Google Maps
Source: Google Maps Identifying Flood Exposure
Source: FEMA Identifying Flood Exposure
Source: FEMA Identifying Flood Exposure
Source: FEMA Identifying Flood Exposure
Source: FEMA Identifying Flood Exposure
Identifying Flood Exposure Source: FEMA
Source: FEMA Flood Zones and Risk
You are In. Now What? Flood elevation vs. building elevation. Elevation surveys to identify Base Flood Elevations (BFE). Letter of Map Change (LOMC) if you are above the flood zone. Source: FEMA
You are In. Now What? LOMC Letter of Map Change If a property owner thinks their property has been inadvertently mapped in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), they may submit a request to FEMA for a Letter of Map Change (LOMC). A SFHA is defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. A LOMC reflects an official revision/amendment to an effective Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). If the LOMC request is granted, property owners may be eligible for lower flood insurance premiums, or the option to not purchase flood insurance.
Reducing Flood Loss Education (baseline information and risk assessment) Understand the threat (risk assessment) and required actions and consequences sources of flooding. Know your flood protection systems pump station key, flood gate operations, etc. Know your facility, important infrastructure and utilities, people, equipment, risk locations, access/exit points, etc. Preparation Prevention (structural fixes) vs. response - usually a combination of both. Develop and update emergency recovery plan (everything on this page) Flood defense supplies sandbags, plastic sheets, barriers, generators, pumps, etc. Flood clean up supplies generators, lights, hoses, shovels, brooms, etc. Identify resources staffing, experts, contractors, equipment rental, key contacts, etc. Define and document roles, responsibilities and actions for flood warnings. Develop evacuation and refuge plans and post event actions. Practice / drills. During the Flood Monitor rain and flood levels and warnings. Notify authorities and utilities of flooding and request utility shut off, if compromised. Control activities in flooded areas. Repair damage flood defense systems. Follow plant shut down, evacuation, lockdown and refuge procedures. After the Flood Damage assessment. Structural stabilization and repairs. Document flood levels and damage for claims. Clean up. Repair/replace flood damaged equipment. Restart and reoccupy.
Flood Risk Assessment Review flood hazard information such as NOAA rainfall records, FEMA and US Army Corps of Engineers flood maps, topographic maps, site grading drawings and flood history for the area to understand the flood hazard levels. Perform a site survey of the plant and surrounding areas to observe construction, operations, storage systems, and process, production, transportation and utility equipment to assess flood vulnerability. During the site survey, also visit nearby flood defense systems such as dikes, levees, pumps and flood walls to assess condition and effectiveness. Interview on-site staff to understand equipment and infrastructure requirements for operation, susceptibility of various types of contents to damage, and local on-site flood preparedness procedures. Review construction documents for flood vulnerability. Assess flood risk/exposure, business impacts, and expected losses. Develop recommendations to reduce flood risk. Recommendations generally include both hard and soft fixes.
Flood Mitigation Options Hard fixes: permanent measures Site selection for new sites. Regional vs. site flood protection systems. Barriers such as levees and flood walls. Re-grade site and grounds to drain away from buildings. Concrete skirt walls. Improve drainage systems to divert & remove water from buildings. Pumps, valves and flood gates. Flood resistant designs (structural & nonstructural). Elevate key buildings and equipment. Soft fixes: emergency response & planning measures Regional vs. site. Emergency plan for location and risk. Temporary barriers such as sand bags, movable and inflatable barriers. Portable emergency generators and pumps. Flood barriers/gates to block openings and drains. Move/relocate critical equipment and contents. Insurance.
Examples of Hard Fixes Source: FEMA
Examples of Soft Fixes Source: University of Iowa Source: California Department of Water Resources
Examples of Soft Fixes
Questions Tom Chan Global Risk Miyamoto, LLC. tchan@grmcat.com (925) 284-3700 x111 Greg Bates Global Risk Consultants, Inc. greg.bates@globalriskconsultants.com (770) 343-9074