With the recent effort of a multidisciplinary research team led by Mehrshad Amini, an amazing dataset was compiled. It shows a compelling correlation between first-floor elevation and flood damage caused by Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. The team collected damage data down to the level of individual buildings—almost 3,400 structures that were affected by the hurricane. Their results clearly show how first-floor height can affect a building’s flood vulnerability. With this exclusive dataset, get a clear picture of flood risks. Beyond that, it’s a key investment in future research and preparedness ahead of the next disaster that will inevitably strike.
The research’s most important takeaway is that first-floor elevation is basically the lowest point of entry for floodwaters that continue to rise. Consequently, it is a central part of FEMA’s role in understanding flood risk. Amini’s team meticulously collected high-resolution data on various aspects of structural damage, including the roof, walls, foundation, and overall building state. The dataset has highly accurate estimates of first-floor elevations. These estimates appear even more impressive compared to the lack of comprehensiveness in national inventories like the National Structure Inventory.
Comprehensive Damage Assessment
Amini’s team faced a creative, collaborative, and technical challenge. They were able to evaluate building damage in Fort Myers rapidly after Hurricane Ian’s landfall in 2022. They needed to be able to train undergraduate engineering students to conduct these assessments. It’s a perfect example of how even relative newcomers can do incredible work on complex and consequential evaluations.
“Our results show that trained engineering students can perform damage assessment as reliably as experts, while also yielding faster results at much lower cost,” – Mehrshad Amini
The team combined aerial imagery taken in advance of the storm with aerial imagery collected thereafter to determine damage accurately. Their approach at estimating first-floor elevations was pretty spot on. This holistic methodology provided the team the ability to parse the data down into component-level damage ratings for each building.
Despite facing challenges, such as inconsistent image quality due to limited footage taken after the hurricane, Amini’s team successfully gathered valuable information. They utilized DesignSafe, a robust platform for storing and sharing their extensive dataset, ensuring that it remained accessible for future research.
“DesignSafe provided us a reliable platform to store and share our large dataset,” – Mehrshad Amini
The platform’s version control capabilities were instrumental in ensuring the data collected stayed accurate and relevant over time.
Relevance of First-Floor Elevation
Knowing the correct first-floor elevation is a key ingredient to more accurately forecasting the flood risk from hurricanes. In Florida, every new construction must record the elevations of their first floor against the advice of an engineer or land surveyor before receiving building permits. This new regulatory requirement underscores the vital role that elevation data can play in avoiding or mitigating damage from dangerous and costly flash flooding.
Amini notes that this dataset, which is the largest publicly available collection of first-floor elevation data for buildings affected by Hurricane Ian, enhances damage prediction models significantly.
“One of the important components is information about first-floor elevation that’s useful for damage prediction models such as in FEMA depth-damage functions,” – Mehrshad Amini
Beyond these immediate concerns, the implications of this research are far-reaching. Amini’s goal is to continue to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to advance the field. She hopes that her findings inform damage prediction applications in subsequent studies.
“We also hope for its use for AI or machine learning in the future by researchers focused on using the latest advanced technology for damage prediction,” – Mehrshad Amini
Community Engagement and Future Applications
During their interdisciplinary research process, Amini’s team continued to consult with community stakeholders—most notably, town planners from Fort Myers. This collaborative process was key to making sure the dataset would serve the needs and concerns of the community.
“I have been in different conferences and workshops, where researchers are using this dataset to better model inland hazard characterization and damage,” – Mehrshad Amini
The change in the team’s work has already started changing how researchers model flood risks. The reason for this is that many hazard models using these advanced hydrodynamic modeling techniques tend to ignore the presence of buildings entirely in their models. Amini’s compiled dataset provides an incredibly useful opportunity to study how building elevation impacts flood dynamics.