Evaluating a quantitative flood risk assessment tool in Manitoba and its application to policy

• Main Author: Houlind, Suzanne
• Other Authors: Walker, David (Environment and Geography)
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Hazus-MH; Quantitative risk assessment; Red River Basin; Flood risk; Data centralization
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/31251

Manitoba’s flooding is one of the principal sources of costs associated with flood disasters. Despite the tremendous financial investments in structural mitigation, flood cost, continue to rise. Currently at the national and provincial level, there exists no standardized operational framework and tool for flood risk assessment. The primary role of this research was two-fold. First, Hazus-MH a Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) tool was evaluated as a potential flood-loss estimation model in a Manitoba context. Secondly, to examine the application of a QRA tool in policy, a face-to-face questionnaire was completed with flood experts in municipal and provincial government and with consultants. The study results suggested that Hazus-MH has the potential to be applied as a standard QRA tool in Manitoba. This research found that developing a standard QRA tool in Manitoba, would empower communication between decision-makers, centralize data to support disaster planning, and reduce the cost of recovery. === May 2016