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Flood Damage Assessment Tools

Updated 11/15/2008

This site contains economic flood damage assessment models developed by NRCS. The older DOS URB1 and ECON2 models are formulated specifically to look at urban and rural flood damages in PL566 sized watersheds. They take flow frequencies and cross sectional rating curves import directly from the NRCS programs, WSP2 and TR20. These programs can also be used with the appropriate USACE programs like HEC2. The current version of ECON2 and URB1 was last revised 1991, and are being replaced with the new Flood Econ program and the USACE HEC-FDA program.

The Hydrologic Engineering Center’s Flood Damage Analysis (HEC-FDA) computer program is designed to assist Corps of Engineers study team members in using risk-based analysis methods for flood-damage-reduction studies as required by the Corps (EM 1110-2-1419). The approach explicitly incorporates descriptions of uncertainty of key parameters and functions into project benefit and performance analyses. The following is a description of how HEC-FDA is used in flood-damage-reductions studies during plan development.  Bob Carl (HEC) is the USACE contact with NRCS on this model.  Current software and documentation are available at
http://www.hec.usace.army.mil/software/hec-fda/index.html  CCE Certification of HEC FDA

HEC-FDA has been used by NRCS Economists Lauren Cartwright, (573-876-5015), Kent Hardmeyer (732-537-6055) and Colleen Tennity (717-237-2218). In January, 2005, 20 NRCS economists received training on the HEC-FDA model at the USACE Hydrologic Engineering Center in Davis, CA.   Many NRCS watershed staff are now converting to this model.
Bentley Creek, PA HEC-FDA Example files developed by Colleen Tennity.

The NRCS URB1, ECON2, and CARE models have been combined by George Forster at ITC into a CCEinstallation package at fdatools.exe.  Being a CCE installation, you need an administrative login to install fdatools.exe on a CCE machine.  Otherwise you can just download the DOS programs and run them directly in a Command Prompt window.

Plans Of Work (POW) and To-Do Items for Project Evaluations
Microsoft Excel spreadsheetCA Watershed POW
Microsoft Excel spreadsheetEast Locust MO POW
Microsoft Word documentPick Creek MO POW
Microsoft Excel spreadsheetCoon Creek Rehab ND POW

Adobe Acrobat DocumentWork Items Needed for Evaluation of Irrigation Project
Adobe Acrobat DocumentWork Items Needed for Evaluation of Watershed Protection Project
Adobe Acrobat DocumentWork Items Needed for Evaluation of Agricultural Flooding
Adobe Acrobat DocumentWork Items Needed for Evaluation of Urban Flood Damages

Other Flood Damage Information Sources

NRCS Flood Control Models and Documentation Downloads

Model Name/Link Model Description NRCS Contact
fdatools.exe (ZIP, 1.4MB) CCE Installation of NRCS URB1, Econ2, and CARE DOS programs, April, 2006  David Buland
Adobe Acrobat DocumentNRCS National Watershed Manual Adobe Acrobat Document (1992 National Watershed Manual as one file) David Buland
Adobe Acrobat DocumentPart 611 NRCS National Water Resources Handbook for Economics    
Emergency Watershed Protection Adobe Acrobat DocumentEWP Final Rule, 7 CFR Part 624  
National Flood Insurance Program Administration Costs P&G 2.4.12(b) allows reductions in the administrative costs associated with the NFIP to be claimed as NED benefits in those alternatives which effectively remove properties from the 100-year floodplain.   The attached spreadsheet shows the derivation of the average annual administrative expenses per-policy over the period 2000-2004 of $167 (2007-QII dollar terms, as of August 30, 2007). As far as I can tell, these are the latest published data. Dale Pekar
2007 Flood Damage Analysis Spreadsheet (XLS 2.8MB)
Older 2005 Flood Damage Spreadsheet  (XLS 177 KB)  		Excel Spreadsheet Version of the Urb1 Flood Control Model converted by Hal Gordon, NRCS OR. Hal Gordon
Microsoft Word Document Flood Damage Reduction Analysis with HEC-FDA (66.5 KB)     U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Workshop (01/05)
     Student Information		  
Microsoft Powerpoint presentation Flood Econ Program The (10/2002) presentation of the  
Microsoft Word documentProposed Flood Economics Program The (3/7/2000) presentation  
Microsoft Powerpoint presentationEconomist Role in Water Resource Programs by Bruce Julian, 10/2002  
Zip File utilityECON2 Program
Adobe Acrobat documentECON2 Users Manual		 Zip File utilityAgricultural Flood Water Damage Economic Evaluation (63.3 KB)
Coreona SD Econ2 2007 Input Data (158 KB)
Adobe Acrobat documentAZ Crop Damage Factors (260 KB)
David Buland
Zip File utilityURB1
Adobe Acrobat documentURB1 Data Development Procedures
Adobe Acrobat documentURB1 PC Users Manual (1990 version)
Microsoft WordURB1 PROGRAM Checklist
Zip File utilityUrban Flood Water Damage Economic Evaluation Tool (49.2 KB)		 Microsoft WordMO Bridge Stage Damage Tables Study
New Mexico Depth Damage Data (622 KB)
USACE Depth Damage Factors.xls (34 KB)
Adobe Acrobat documentUSACE Without Basement Depth Damage Factors.xls (34 KB)
Microsoft WordUSACE Basement Depth Damage Factors.xls (246 KB)
USACE Commercial Depth Damage Factors.xls (38 KB)


David Buland
Zip File utilityDE (86.1 KB) DOS Data Entry Program for Econ2 & URB1  
Adobe Acrobat documentDamage Survey Report (DSR), OMB #05780030, NRCS-PDM-20, v7/2005
Adobe Acrobat documentFlood Damage Commercial and Industrial Interview Form
Adobe Acrobat documentFlood Damage Residential Properties Interview Form
Adobe Acrobat documentFlood Damage Transportation and Utilities Interview Form
Adobe Acrobat documentA Manual Procedure to Estimate Annual Crop and Pasture Flood Damages
Adobe Acrobat documentPartial Duration Frequency Series in Estimating Floodwater Damages
Adobe Acrobat documentEconomics - Basic Data for Evaluating Floodwater Damages to Crops and Pastures in the Northeast (Using Econ 2)
Adobe Acrobat documentProcedures for Evaluating Flatland Flood Damages David Buland
Adobe Acrobat documentBunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004   
Microsoft Word Document Flood Damage Reduction Analysis with HEC-FDA (66.5 KB)  (New)
     U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Workshop (01/05)
     Student Information 		 
West Tarkio Creek Watershed Plan | Iowa NRCS Alan Lauver
Adobe Acrobat documentRocklHouse Creek, KY, Econonomic Appendix, 2007 David Buland
Microsoft Powerpoint presentationThe most recent (10/2002) presentation of the Flood Econ Program  
Microsoft Word documentThe (3/7/2000) draft presentation of the Proposed Flood Economics Program  
Microsoft Word document CCE Certification of HEC FDA David Buland
Microsoft Powerpoint presentationEconomist Role in Water Resource Programs by Bruce Julian, 10/2002  
 

There was an effort from 1998 to 2005 to revise and combine the NRCS URB1 and ECON2 models into the new Flood Econ model.  As of 2007, all IT Work on FloodEcon is officially discontinued.
 

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