Hydrologic Engineering Center - Flood Damage Reduction Analysis (HEC-FDA)

Purpose:	Formulate and evaluate flood damage reduction plans.
Developer:	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center (USACE HEC)
Key Features:	Integrated hydrologic engineering and economic analysis; Accounts for uncertainty in input functions.
Latest Release:	Version 1.2.5, October 2010
OS Platform:	Windows
Cost:	Free
Related Software:	"HEC-FIA, FLEMO"
Website:	HEC-FDA (summary, features, user’s manual, downloads, etc)

Introduction

The HEC-FDA model is risk-based and employs Monte Carlo simulation to estimate flood damages for multiple scenarios. As such, the model is used to formulate and evaluate flood damage reduction plans. In order to estimate flood damages, the model first randomly chooses an exceedance value, and then relates the value to a discharge. Discharge is subsequently related to stage using a stage-discharge relationship. The model estimates damages to a building or structure due to water surface elevation by subtracting the first floor or ground elevation from the water surface elevation, and then multiplying the value by the structure value. Content value is determined using a content-to-structure value ratio. The model performs a Monte Carlo simulation thousands of times to estimate damages and to account for uncertainty. Estimated damages can be analyzed in many different ways, for example, with respect to a stream, analysis year, damage category and plan, and results can then be used to evaluate damages over different periods of timein the context of flood damage reduction.

Key features of the HEC-FDA include a Graphical User Interface (GUI), data storage, and management and reporting tools.

Advantages and Limitations

Advantages	Limitations
Graphical User Interface. Estimates damages and performs analysis for various configurations. Three different types of evaluations, i.e., expected annual damage, equivalent annual damage and project performance by annual year Detailed technical report and users' manual.	No support provided for users other than U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Assumes all damages will be repaired before the following year Not applicable for damages to agriculture Model code is not publicly available Does not account for velocity damage No spatial display of flooding, since flooding is considered a spatial problem
Illustrative Screens

Sample Applications

Africa	East Asia and the Pacific	Europe & Central Asia	Latin America & the Caribbean	Middle East and North Africa	South Asia
				Flood damage estimate (Iran)