Flood Hazard Mitigation

Information & Resource Centers

Associated Programme on Flood Management (APFM): http://www.apfm.info/index.htm; APFM is a joint initiative of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Global Water Partnership (GWP) that promotes the concept of Integrated Flood Management (IFM). APFM is a process that endorses an integrated, rather than fragmented, approach to flood management. It integrates land and water resources development in a river basin, within the context of integrated water resources management (IWRM), and aims to maximize the net benefit from floodplains and to minimize loss to life from flooding.
Association of Floodplain Managers (ASFM): http://www.floods.org/index.asp; ASFM is an organization of professionals involved in floodplain management, flood hazard mitigation, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and flood preparedness, warning and recovery.
Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO): http://www.damsafety.org/; ASDSO is a non-profit organization committed to advance and improve the safety of dams by supporting the dam safety community and state dam safety programs, raising awareness, facilitating cooperation, providing a forum for the exchange of information, representing dam safety interests before governments, providing outreach programs, and creating a unified community of dam safety advocates.
Dartmouth Flood Observatory (DFO): http://floodobservatory.colorado.edu/; The DFO facilitates practical use of space-based information for flood detection, flood response, future risk assessment, and water resources research.
Flood Risk Management Research Consortium (FRMRC): http://www.floodrisk.org.uk/; The FRMRC is an interdisciplinary research consortium focusing on some of the more recently identified strategic research investigating the prediction and management of flood risk and is the primary UK academic response to this challenge. A particular feature of the FRMRC is the concerted effort to concentrate on coastal and urban flooding.
International Flood Initiative (IFI): http://www.ifi-home.info/; The IFI is based on the concept of integrated flood management and aims to ensure that an end-to-end process of flood management is put in place in a balanced manner, duly considering prevention and mitigation measures and the positive and negative impacts of floods. By applying the Integrated Flood Management approach that considers comprehensive risk management principles and approaches that aim at multi-hazard responses, IFI will foster the mobilization of resources and networks of the UN system, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), donor agencies, the insurance industry in order to assist communities and governments in developing culturally sensitive flood management strategies comprising of optimal structural and non-structural measures thereby targeting sustainable development.
National Dam Safety Program (NDSP): http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/damfailure/ndsp.shtm; Formally established by the Water Resources and Development Act of 1996, the NDSP is a partnership of the states, federal agencies, and other stakeholders to encourage individual and community responsibility for dam safety.
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP): http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/; Nearly 20,000 communities across the United States and its territories participate in the NFIP by adopting and enforcing floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damage. In exchange, the NFIP makes federally backed flood insurance available to homeowners, renters, and business owners in these communities. In addition to providing flood insurance and reducing flood damages through floodplain management regulations, the NFIP identifies and maps the nation's floodplains.
National Flood Risk Management Program: http://www.nfrmp.us/; The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers established the National Flood Risk Management Program in May 2006 for the purpose of integrating and synchronizing USACE flood risk management programs and activities, both internally and with counterpart activities of the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), other Federal agencies, state organizations and regional and local agencies.
National Performance of Dams Program (NPDP): http://npdp.stanford.edu/; The NPDP is a cooperative effort of engineers and dam safety professionals in the U.S. to create an information resource on dams and their performance of dams. The objectives of the NPDP are to retrieve, archive, and disseminate information on the performance of dams.

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Web Resources

Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS): http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/ahps/; Produced by the NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS), the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) is a web-based suite of accurate and information-rich forecast products. They display the magnitude and uncertainty of occurrence of floods or droughts, from hours to days and months, in advance. These new products will enable government agencies, private institutions, and individuals to make more informed decisions about risk-based policies and actions to mitigate the dangers posed by floods and droughts.
Associated Programme on Flood Management Case Studies: http://www.apfm.info/case_studies.htm; This resource collects a number of case studies on flood management from various regions of the world, based on the experiences of organizations active in flood management. The complete text of each case study can be downloaded from the resource as a PDF.
Associated Programme on Flood Management Database: http://www.apfm.info/databases/literature/index.php; This resource provides a searchable database of literature relating to the various aspects of flood management and as such serves as a reference center for a wide range of policy makers, planners researchers, executive functionaries in land and water management, NGO's, the media and the affected public.
Association of State Dam Safety Officials Bibliographic Database: http://www.damsafety.org/resources/bibliography/?p=0102393e-7e29-4e01-b778-b0c750418f26; The ASDSO hosts a fully searchable bibliographic database comprised of conference papers, newsletter & journal articles, technical seminars and special publications focused on topics related to the goal of dam safety management.
Buffalo Creek Flood (1972): http://www.marshall.edu/library/speccoll/virtual_museum/buffalo_creek/html/default.asp; On February 26, 1972, after a rain soaked impoundment dam of the Buffalo Creek Coal Company collapsed, 138 million gallons of black waste water cascaded down the narrow hollow. By the time the water subsided at the Guyandotte River, 125 persons were dead, another 1,000 were injured, over 500 homes were completely demolished, and nearly 1,000 others were damaged. This interactive resource provides a dam chronology, personal accounts, archival news footage videos, court cases, and a copy of the Governor's Report.
Flood Damage in the United States: A Reanalysis of the National Weather Service Estimates: http://www.flooddamagedata.org/; The flood damage estimates presented in this website are compiled from NWS records and publications, supplemented by reports of other federal and state agencies. The accompanying report includes an evaluation of the accuracy of the estimates and recommendations for users of the data. When properly used, the reanalyzed NWS damage estimates can be a valuable tool to aid researchers and decision makers in understanding the changing character of damaging floods in the U.S.
Flood Risk Management (FRM) Newsletter: The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) publishes the quarterly Flood Risk Management (FRM) Newsletter which covers all aspects of FRM, including geotechnology; hydrology; hydraulics; coastal engineering; ice engineering; material science; mechanical engineering; planning and policy; and research and development.
Global Active Archive of Large Flood Events: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~floods/Archives/index.html; This resource is comprised of basic information concerning known flood events from 1985 to the present provided by the Dartmouth Flood Observatory DFO).
NOAA Flash Flood and River Flood Fatalities: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats.shtml; The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintain an interactive website comprised of Natural Hazard Statistics for the United States. Flash flood and river flood fatality statistics are available from 1995 to the present.
NOAA Photo Library: Floods: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/nws/flood1.html; The NOAA collection includes thousands of weather and space images, hundreds of images of our shores and coastal seas, and thousands of marine species images. This resource is comprised of a collection of images from the Historical National Weather Service collection focused solely on floods.
River Watch: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~floods/AMSR-E%20Gaging%20Reaches/IndexMap.htm; This resource is comprised of a satellite-based flood detection and measurement system provided by the Dartmouth Flood Observatory (DFO).
St. Francis Dam Disaster: http://www.sespe.com/damdisaster/index.html; This resource focuses on the aftermath of the flood downstream and the impact on the lives of everyday people who lived and worked in the rural valley below the dam. The intention here is to introduce photographs of the downstream aftermath and weave in the stories direct from the heroes and survivors.
Surface Water Data Record: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~floods/Modis.html; This resource is comprised of a comprehensive map and data record of the Earth's changing surface water provided by the Dartmouth Flood Observatory (DFO).
Undergraduate Teaching Materials for Flood Risk Management: http://www.floodrisk.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=146&catid=0&Itemid=41; The Flood Risk Management Research Consortium (FRMRC) provides fully downloadable teaching materials aimed at an undergraduate audience providing background to flooding issues, including recent events; flood defense and the role of the Environment Agency (EA); and several case studies.
WaterWatch – Current Water Resources Conditions: http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?state=us&map_type=flood&web_type=map; A USGS maintained website that features a "flood and high flow" map that shows the location of streamgages where water level is currently at or above flood stage or at high flow. The high flow conditions are expressed as percentiles that compare the current instantaneous flow value to historical daily mean flow values for all days of the year.

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