HEADQUARTERS

During the early 1970's, the Flood Plain Management Services (FPMS) Program, under it's Guides, Pamphlets, and Supporting Studies element, was pursuing several flood proofing initiatives. Larry Flanagan, Chief FPMS in LMVD, was involved in residential flood proofing systems and in testing flood proofing materials at the Waterways Experiment Station (WES); Sam Cowan, Chief FPMS at SAD, was involved in developing a flood proofing primer and in documenting the elevating of a residence located along Peachtree Creek in Atlanta, GA; Herm Lardieri, Chief FPMS in Pittsburgh District, was involved in developing standards of flood proofing in buildings and related codes and in drafting EP 1165-2-314 Flood-Proofing Regulations; and Bob Hall, Chief FPMS in Los Angeles District, was seeking flood proofing techniques that would prevent sheet-flow flooding of  structures in California. As flood proofing activities continued to increase, it became evident that some means of coordination was needed.

An Ad-hoc Committee on Residential Flood Proofing was formed in May of 1978. It was chaired by Larry Flanagan with Sam Cowan, Herm Lardieri, and Bob Hall as members and Bob Plott as OCE Coordinator. It was dedicated to residential flood proofing and its activities were loosely coordinated. Much of its work and its accomplishments involved completing the work initiated by its individual members and avoiding overlap. The ad-hoc committee met twice, once in 1978 and once in 1979. In 1980, Bob Hall left the FPMS Program and the committee. In 1984, Larry Flanagan left the committee and Dr. Carl Pace was brought on board as a technical advisor for the work he and Larry were doing on testing flood proofing materials at WES. The committee's last effort was to acquire the materials that were used by headquarters to publish Flood Proofing Systems & Techniques - Examples of flood proofed structures in the United States.

It became evident that a means of coordinating and providing direction to future flood proofing activities under the FPMS Program was necessary. Hence, charter members were appointed on 20 September 1985 and on 8-9 October 1985 the initial meeting  of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Flood Proofing Committee (NFPC) was held at SAD to finalize a Committee charter and to elect Committee officers.

The NFPC charter was ratified at headquarters by the Chief, Flood Plain Management Services and Coastal Resources Branch and signed by the Chief, Planning Division, Directorate of Civil Works, Office of the Chief of Engineers on 12 December 1985. It subsequently was revised in 1990, 1994, and 2006 primarily to increase the number of its members from the initial five to seven and then to nine.  Currently, there are seven members.

The National Nonstructural Flood Proofing Committee is celebrating 30 years of service to the nation in flood risk management.

The NFPC functions under the general direction of the Chief, Planning Community of Practice, Directorate of Civil Works, HQUSACE. The objectives of the NFPC are to:

• Promote the development and use of all nonstructural flood risk reduction measures
• Risk expertise on all aspects of nonstructural flood risk reduction and associated opportunities
• Disseminate nonstructural flood reduction information
• Partner with Planning Centers of Expertise in all aspects of nonstructural flood risk reduction and associated opportunities
• Provide leadership in all aspects of floodplain management

NFPC Charter: The current NFPC Charter can be downloaded HERE.

• Education: BS degree in Civil Engineering-University of Nebraska
• Professional Registrations: Professional Engineer, Certified Floodplain Manager
• 30 years of Experience in:
  • Floodplain Management
  • Hydraulic Engineering
  • Plan Formulation
  • Project Management
  • Cultural Resources
  • Program Managemen
  • Engineering Surveys
  • Nonstructural Flood Damage Reduction

• Education: BS degree in Civil Engineering Technology-Northern Arizona University
• Professional Registrations: Professional Engineer, Certified Floodplain Manager
• 25 years of Experience in:
  • Flood Plain Management / Flood Risk Management
  • Hydrology & Hydraulics
  • Plan Formulation
  • Project Management
  • Ecosystem Restoration Planning
  • Watershed Management Planning
  • Program Management 
  • Nonstructural Flood Damage Reduction
  • National Flood Insurance Program
  • Stormwater Management

• Education: BA degree in Economics- University of Illinois
  MA degree in Urban Affairs-St Louis University
  MA degree in Economics-University of Colorado
• Professional Registration: Certified Planner-American Institute of Certified Planners
• 41 years of Experience in:
  • Economics
  • Study Management
  • Public Involvement
  • Principal investigator with IWR
  • Plan Formulation
  • Statistical Analysis
  • NED Analysis

• Education: Bachelor of Architecture-University of Kentucky
• Professional Registrations: Professional Architect, Certified Floodplain Manager
• 32 years of Experience in:
  • Architectural Design and Construction
  • Mitigation of Flood Prone Structures/Floodproofing
  • Nonstructural Flood Risk Management
  • Floodplain Management
  • Plan Formulation
  • Program/Project Management

• Education: BA degree in Political Science - University of New Orleans
  MA degree in International Affairs - George Washington University
  MA degree in Economics and Finance - University of New Orleans
• Professional Registration: Certified Floodplain Manager
• 30 years of Experience in:
  • Economics
  • Financial Analysis
  • NED analysis
  • Civil Works Planning
  • Nonstructural Flood Risk Management
  • Social Impact Analysis
  • Plan Formulation
  • Navigation

Nonstructural Flood Risk Management

Nonstructural flood risk management measures are proven methods and techniques for reducing flood risk and flood damages by adapting to the natural characteristics of flooding within the floodplain. In addition to being very effective for both short and long term flood risk and flood damage reduction, nonstructural measures can be very cost effective when compared to other flood risk management techniques.

Risk = f [(Probability of Flooding) x (Consequences)]

Probability of Flooding is the frequency of flooding or how often does flooding occur in a particular location.

Consequences are the potential life loss or damages associated with flooding. Structures (residential, commercial, critical, public, and industrial), land use (agricultural, urban, public), and infrastructure (highways, roads, rail, utilities) are the potentially damageable assets. Reduce the consequences of flooding and risk is reduced. Nonstructural measures are invaluable wherein the goal is to reduce flood damages without modifying the characteristics of the flood event.

Nonstructural flood risk management can be categorized as a set of physical or nonphysical measures utilized for mitigating loss of life as well as existing and future flood damages. The physical measures determined to be most commonly implemented are those which adapt to the natural characteristics of the floodplain without adversely affecting or changing those natural flood characteristics. Because of their adaptive characteristics to flood risk, wherein these measures support the National Flood Insurance Program as administered by FEMA and generally cause no adverse affects to the floodplain, flood stages, velocities, or the environment, these measures may also be referred to as Flood Risk Adaptive Measures (FRAM) and can be incorporated into existing or new structures to mitigate for potential future flood damages.

The following initial assessment tool provides a quick reference for comparing the applicability of different flood damage reduction measures including Structural and Nonstructural Measures.