Leveraging your GIS as a Collaborative Platform

HAZUS for Risk Analysis: Communities Factor Hazards into Mitigation Plans

—Eric Berman and Kevin Mickey, Federal Emergency Management Agency

HAZUS-MH is powerful GIS-based risk assessment methodology that enables users to quantify losses from floods, hurricane winds, and earthquakes. HAZUS-MH produces estimates of hazard-related damage before, or after, a disaster occurs. Attendees will learn how HAZUS can analyze risk in their own communities to save lives and protect property. Loss estimates analyzed in HAZUS-MH include physical damage to residential and commercial buildings, schools, critical facilities, and infrastructure; economic loss, including lost jobs, business interruptions, repair and reconstruction costs; and social impacts, including estimates of shelter requirements, displaced households, and population). This presentation will also demonstrate the latest HAZUS-MH developments including the addition of enhanced abilities to incorporate locally generated hazard and exposure data. It will also provide examples of how HAZUS has been used to identify and mitigate risk. Presenters will discuss future plans for HAZUS-MH including planned functionality enhancements and how it will support FEMA's Risk MAP initiative.