Publications

• Developing and Promoting Mitigation Best Practices and Case Studies: Communication Strategy Toolkit
  Documenting and promoting mitigation efforts, both during and after disaster recovery operations, have long been undertaken by many federal, state, local, and private-sector entities. These efforts have proven to be valuable because they often have increased public awareness and compelled citizens and communities to take action. The purpose of this Communication Strategy is to increase public understanding of the value and use of mitigation measures as a sound investment for individuals, businesses, and communities nationwide. Additionally, this publication seeks to use Mitigation Best Practices and Case Studies as a means to communicate mitigation ideas, expertise, and resources that can be used to lessen the impact of disasters. Mitigation Best Practices and Case Studies demonstrate that mitigation is effective and affordable.

• Summary of Coverage
  Provides guidance about deductibles, what is and is not covered by flood insurance, and how items are valued at time of loss.


• Flood Insurance Claims Handbook
  Describes for policyholders what to do before, during, and after a flood. Filing and appealing flood insurance claims are covered as well.


• Answers to Questions About the National Flood Insurance Program
  Explains the NFIP, including coverage, claims, flood maps, and FEMA's repetitive loss strategy and is designed to be used by readers who want a basic understanding of the program and answers to frequently asked questions.

• Homeowner's Guide to Retrofitting: Six Ways to Protect Your House from Flooding
  Provides information about elevation, wet and dry floodproofing, relocation, levees, floodwalls, and demolition for homeowners who have little or no knowledge about flood protection methods or building construction techniques.


• Emergency Management: The American Experience 1900-2005
  Provides a history of U.S. emergency management covering more than a century of catastrophic events including earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, a pandemic, and an explosion.


• Guidelines for Reducing Flood Losses
  Addresses the socioeconomic aspects of water-related disaster response; key elements of flood disaster management; integrated flood forecasting, warning, and response system; and establishing an integrated system.


• Holistic Disaster Recovery
  Provides guidance for building sustainability into a community during the recovery period after a disaster ($35.00).


• Disaster Recovery Journal
  Focuses on all aspects of disaster recovery, contingency planning, and business continuity.


• Disaster Safety Review
  Contains articles published by the Institute for Business and Home Safety that address mitigation and other preparedness issues regarding natural disasters.


• Large Floods in the United States: Where They Happen and Why
  Shows that the locations of most of the largest floods are related to regional climatology, topography, and basin size. The report may be accessed online at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) website or by calling the USGS Information Services at 888-ASK-USGS (888-275-8747).


• Fact Sheet: Flood Cleanup - Avoiding Indoor Air Quality Problems
  Discusses problems caused by microbial growth, as well as other potential effects of flooding, on long-term indoor air quality and the steps the Environmental Protection Agency advises you to take to lessen these effects.

• Compendium of Flood Map Changes
  Includes all changes made to NFIP maps, including Letters of Map Revision (LOMRs) and Letters of Map Amendment (LOMAs), during the current 6-month period.


• How to Read a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Tutorial
  Explains how to read FEMA's maps, which show levels of flood risks and are used to establish flood insurance rates.


• Guidelines and Specifications for Flood Hazard Mapping Partners
  Defines technical requirements, product specifications for Flood Hazard Maps and related NFIP products, and associated coordination and documentation activities.

• Levees: The Double-edged Sword
  Proposes a state-administered program for ensuring the safety of levees and the development taking place behind them.


• Joint Recommendations on Levee Policy by the Association of State Floodplain Managers and the National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies
  Includes damage reduction recommendations made at the 2006 Flood Risk Policy Summit and the consensus observations underlying them.


• Design Guide for School Safety Against Earthquakes, Floods, and High Winds
  Introduces multi-hazard design and performance-based design and outlines steps necessary to create a risk management plan against natural hazards.


• Provisionally Accredited Levees
  Presents information about flood risks behind levees and explains the roles FEMA does and does not play regarding levees.


• Disaster Reduction: Living in Harmony with Nature
  Addresses the challenges of reducing the risk of natural disasters in the face of population growth and climatic changes. ($79.00)


• Natural Hazards Informer
  Summarizes current state-of-the-art knowledge about specific aspects of natural hazards research and policy.


• Mitigation Success Stories in the United States, IV
  Showcases examples of natural hazard mitigation activities and publicizes the benefits of mitigation successes across the country.


• NFIP Floodplain Management Requirements: A Study Guide and Desk Reference for Local Officials
  Materials supporting an in-depth training course about floodplain management leading to Floodplain Management Certification with the Association of State Floodplain Managers.


• Home Builder's Guide to Coastal Construction Technical Fact Sheet Series
  Series of 31 fact sheets provides technical guidance and recommendations concerning the construction of coastal residential buildings.

• Significant Floods in the United States During the 20th Century -- USGS Measures a Century of Floods
  Describes 32 of the most significant of floods of the 1900s, categorized by type of flooding (regional, flash, ice jam, storm surge, dam and levee failure, and mudflow).


• From Flood Control to Integrated Water Resource Management: Lessons for the Gulf Coast from Flooding in Other Places in the Last Sixty Years
  Addresses the devastation in the Gulf coast region of the United States during the hurricane season of 2005 as well as the debate over what could be done in recovering from the damage and mitigating the consequences of future floods.


• Getting Started: Building Support for Mitigation Planning
  Describes how to engage the public in mitigation planning.


• Planning for a Sustainable Future: The Link Between Hazard Mitigation and Livability
  Describes the link between community hazard mitigation and sustainability.