Risk Analysis and Damage Assessment For Flood Prone Areas in Washington DC

Abstract

This thesis presents a loss estimation method regarding areas of District of Columbia susceptible to flooding, specifically the Southwest quadrant, the National Mall, and Federal Triangle. This thesis develops data for input to a flood model that considers parameters such as detailed digital elevation data, global warming potential, and storm surge for a category IV hurricane. The main goal of this study is to employ a standard method for estimating flooding damages in Washington by supplying combination of the mentioned parameters to the HAZUS-MH 2.0 program. The results of this research is useful for planning purposes, such as reducing natural hazard losses and preparing emergency response and recovery. It is predicted that in the projected storm surge flood more than 1500 buildings would be damaged and about ten thousand people would seek temporary refuge in public shelters. The estimate of total loss for flooding is approximately $1,300 million dollars.