FloodSafeHome: Evaluating Benefits and Savings of Freeboard for Improved
Decision-Making in Flood Risk Mitigation
Abstract
Freeboardelevation of a structure above the base flood elevation (BFE)is
a critical component in mitigating or avoiding flood losses. However,
the unrevealed benefits and savings of freeboard installation have
prevented communities from adopting this approach. To improve
decision-making for flood-vulnerable communities and enhance flood risk
mitigation strategies, this study presents the methodology underlying a
new webtool, FloodSafeHome, that estimates comprehensively the economic
benefits and savings of freeboard installation for new construction of
residential buildings. Specifically, the proposed evaluation framework
has been designed to calculate monthly savings for individual buildings
by assessing freeboard cost, insurance savings per year, and expected
annual flood loss. This new evaluation method is built into a web-based,
decision-making tool for use by the public and community leaders in
three southeastern Louisiana parishes, to identify expected future
benefits of building residences with freeboard and enhance their
decision-making processes with interactive risk/benefit analysis
features. For example, results indicate the levels of freeboard that
optimize the costbenefit ratio for flood-insured homes in the study
area. This approach is expected to improve long-term flood resilience
and provide cost-efficient flood mitigation strategies particularly in
disaster vulnerable regions.