from DSSResources.com

FEMA releases updated software for assessing risks and estimating hazard related damage

Washington, D.C., April 25, 2005 -- FEMA announces the public release of HAZUS-MH MR1 (HAZUS-MH Version 1.1), an updated and revised version of HAZUS-MH. Included with the new release is an updated version of the Building Inventory Tool (BIT), the Inventory Collection Survey Tool (InCAST), and the Flood Information Tool (FIT).

HAZUS-MH is a powerful risk assessment software program for analyzing potential losses from floods, hurricane winds and earthquakes. In HAZUS-MH, current scientific and engineering knowledge is coupled with the latest Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to produce estimates of hazard related damage before, or after, a disaster occurs. HAZUS-MH takes into account various impacts of a hazard event such as:

  • Physical damage: damage to residential and commercial buildings, schools, critical facilities, and infrastructure;
  • Economic loss: lost jobs, business interruptions, repair and reconstruction costs; and
  • Social impacts: impacts to people, including requirements for shelters and medical aid. Federal, State and local government agencies and the private sector can now order HAZUS-MH free-of-charge from the FEMA Distribution Center.

    HAZUS-MH, is a nationally applicable standardized methodology and software program that contains models for estimating potential losses from earthquakes, floods, and hurricane winds. HAZUS-MH was developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under contract with the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). NIBS maintains committees of wind, flood, earthquake and software experts to provide technical oversight and guidance to HAZUS-MH development. Loss estimates produced by HAZUS-MH are based on current scientific and engineering knowledge of the effects of hurricane winds, floods, and earthquakes. Estimating losses is essential to decision-making at all levels of government, providing a basis for developing mitigation plans and policies, emergency preparedness, and response and recovery planning.

    HAZUS-MH uses state-of-the-art geographic information system (GIS) software to map and display hazard data and the results of damage and economic loss estimates for buildings and infrastructure. It also allows users to estimate the impacts of hurricane winds, floods, and earthquakes on populations. The latest release, HAZUS-MH MR1, is an updated version of HAZUS-MH that incorporates many new features which improve both the speed and functionality of the models.

    During the past three years, the Indiana State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), now part of the newly created Indiana Department of Homeland Security, has given priority to the integration of HAZUS-MH into all-hazards planning and training initiatives across the state. This has been accomplished in large part through a partnership with the Polis Center, a unit of the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

    The goal of SEMA is to “create a technologically literate community of emergency managers throughout Indiana who can apply the powerful modeling capabilities of HAZUS-MH and other tools to assess risk and manage the consequences of earthquakes, floods and other hazards that potentially impact the state.”

    For more information check http://www.fema.gov/hazus/hz_index.shtm



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