This dashboard explores the benefits of buying out or elevating residential homes in reducing major
flood damages as well repetitive flood loss.
Click on the buttons at the left side of the dashboard to change between costs/savings or elevation and
buyouts of residential properties.
You can change the budget using the drop down above the map.
Buyouts
Elevation
The analysis in this dashboard apply four major methodological steps in estimating costs and savings
from inland and storm surge flooding in Harris and Galveston Counties: (1) hydrologic modelling of
Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Ike, (2) computation of average annualized flood losses and historic
flood claims from previous flood events, (3) flood damage estimation to residential properties for
selected storm events, and (4) a benefit-cost analysis which compares cost of flood mitigation to
savings accrued from the flood damages prevented.
The analysis is at the parcel level and results are aggregated to show estimated costs and benefits at
the block group level. Parcels were chosen based on the Benefit/Cost Ratio. Those with the highest
benefit/cost are purchased first. Parcels must at least have a 1 Benefit to Cost.
Users should interpret the results with caution and treat the values only as
estimates. Decision makers should perform additional analysis to enable them to select the appropriate
flood mitigation measures, in addition to a suite of other non-structural flood risk reduction methods
that cross jurisdictional boundaries. You may find additional recommendations for flood risk reduction
from the
Commission to
Rebuild Texas Report.