Flood is the most devastating and prevalent disaster among all-natural disasters. Every year, flood claims hundreds of human lives and causes damage to the worldwide economy and environment. Consequently, the identification of flood-vulnerable areas is important for comprehensive flood risk management. The main objective of this study is to delineate flood-prone areas in the Panjkora River Basin (PRB), eastern Hindu Kush, Pakistan. An initial extensive field survey and interpretation of Landsat-7 and Google Earth images identified 154 flood locations that were inundated in 2010 floods. Of the total, 70% of flood locations were randomly used for building a model and 30% were used for validation of the model. Eight flood parameters including slope, elevation, land use, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), topographic wetness index (TWI), drainage density, and rainfall were used to map the flood-prone areas in the study region. The relative frequency ratio was used to determine the correlation between each class of flood parameter and flood occurrences. All of the factors were resampled into a pixel size of 30×30 m and were reclassified through the natural break method. Finally, a final hazard map was prepared and reclassified into five classes, i.e., very low, low, moderate, high, very high susceptibility. The results of the model were found reliable with area under curve values for success and prediction rate of 82.04% and 84.74%, respectively. The findings of this study can play a key role in flood hazard management in the target region; they can be used by the local disaster management authority, researchers, planners, local government, and line agencies dealing with flood risk management.

This hosted feature layer has been published in RI State Plane Feet NAD 83.Statewide flood hazard areas compiled from county-based Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) databases for Rhode Island. The Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) Database depicts flood risk information and supporting data used to develop the risk data. The primary risk classifications used are the 1-percent-annual-chance flood event, the 0.2-percent-annual-chance flood event, and areas of minimal flood risk. TheDFIRM Database is derived from Flood Insurance Studies (FISs), previously published Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), flood hazard analyses performed in support of the FISs and FIRMs, and new mapping data, where available. The FISs and FIRMs are published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and in this case redistributed by the Rhode Island Geographic Information System (RIGIS) at the request of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency.This dataset provides the user with information on the flood risk hazard zones throughout the state of Rhode Island. Note: the above summary is a slightly modified version adapted from source metadata records provided by FEMA. To provide the user with information on the statewide flood risk based on information provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the DFIRM databases created specifically for the five counties of Rhode Island (Bristol, Kent, Newport, Providence, and Washington). This dataset provides information on the likelihood that a flood may occur at a given location in the state. The files and information used to create this dataset were originally provided to the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA) by FEMA.This information was in the form of DFIRM databases for each of the five RI counties. This information was then redistributed by RIGIS at the request of RIEMA. The information provided by this data is only a subset of the information available in the original DFIRM databases located on the RIGIS website. For a specific county's complete DFIRM database, please visit the RIGIS website and download the appropriate DFIRM database. This metadata record is specific to this dataset and only contains information relevant to this dataset as provided by FEMA the original DFIRM metadata records. These can be found and referenced in the /DOCUMENT folder that is downloaded as part of a DFIRM package for a specific Rhode Island county. Another valuable source of documentation is FEMA's "Guidelines and Specifications for Flood Hazard Mapping Partners". It is currently available online at https://www.fema.gov/guidelines-and-standards-flood-risk-analysis-and-mapping. The Guide offers a tremendous amount of information regarding how DFIRM data are created, and detailed information about the individual files that constitute a DFIRM database.

This map shows a simple summary of the social vulnerability of populations in the United States. Using Census 2010 information, the map answers the question “Where are the areas of relatively greater potential impact from disaster events within the U.S.?” from the perspective of social vulnerability to hazards. In other words, all areas of the U.S. are assessed relative to each other. Local and regional assessments of social vulnerability should apply the same model to their multi-county or multi-state region. For emergency response planning and hazard mitigation, populations can be assessed by their vulnerability to various hazards (fire, flood, etc). Physical vulnerability refers to a population’s exposure to specific potential hazards, such as living in a designated flood plain. There are various methods for calculating the potential or real geographic extents for various types of hazards. Social vulnerability refers to sensitivity to this exposure due to population and housing characteristics: age, low income, disability, home value or other factors. The social vulnerability score presented in this web service is based upon a 2000 article from the Annals of the Association of American Geographers which sums the values of 8 variables as a surrogate for "social vulnerability". For example, low-income seniors may not have access to a car to simply drive away from an ongoing hazard such as a flood. A map of the flood’s extent can be overlaid on the social vulnerability layer to allow planners and responders to better understand the demographics of the people affected by the hazard. This map depicts social vulnerability at the block group level. A high score indicates an area is more vulnerable. This web service provides a simplistic view of social vulnerability. There are more recent methods and metrics for determining and displaying social vulnerability, including the Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) which capture the multi-dimensional nature of social vulnerability across space. See www.sovius.org for more information on SoVI. The refereed journal article used to guide the creation of the model in ModelBuilder was: Cutter, S. L., J. T. Mitchell, and M. S. Scott, 2000. "Revealing the Vulnerability of People and Places: A Case Study of Georgetown County, South Carolina." Annals of the Association of American Geographers 90(4): 713-737. Additionally, a white paper used to guide creation of the model in ModelBuilder was "Handbook for Conducting a GIS-Based Hazards Assessment at the County Level" by Susan L. Cutter, Jerry T. Mitchell, and Michael S. Scott.Off-the-shelf software and data were used to generate this index. ModelBuilder in ArcGIS 10.1 was used to connect the data sources and run the calculations required by the model.-------------------------The Civic Analytics Network collaborates on shared projects that advance the use of data visualization and predictive analytics in solving important urban problems related to economic opportunity, poverty reduction, and addressing the root causes of social problems of equity and opportunity. For more information see About the Civil Analytics Network.