Turning the Tide on Flood Resilience
In the ongoing human experience of flood disasters, flood losses and changing conditions,
2023 will go down in history as the dawn of a groundbreaking, fundamentally important shift in what it means to be flood resistant. This “new normal” is turning higher standards into minimum standards and setting the foundation for a brighter and more resilient future for our nation.
Culminating in seven years of comprehensive study, analysis, deliberation and rethinking
minimum flood-resilient design, our nation’s standard has been rewritten with the release of
the ASCE 7-22 Minimum Design Loads Standard and the ASCE 7-22 Supplement #2. Hundreds of volunteers from disciplines such as public and private sectors, regulators, practitioners, academics, producers, design professionals and consumers adhered to the rigorous, fair, open and balanced consensus process to produce these news standards. They can be referred to as “the flood supplement.” The outcome of all this work culminates in the “recipe” for this new standard for flood design. The “ingredients” include:
The development of the new flood standard was successful due to the data, studies, models, expertise and participation of multiple federal agencies, including NIST, NOAA, USGS, USACE and FEMA. FEMA, along with its partners, has been sharing these new minimum flood standards in conferences, presentations and working groups. The most recent engagement occurred on September 6, 2023, at the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Innovation Conference in Washington, DC. During a session titled “Advancements in Flood Resilience,” Chad Berginnis, CFM, Association of State Floodplain Managers, Dan Cox, Ph.D., Oregon State University/Chair of ASCE 7 Flood Committee and John Ingargiola, Lead Physical Scientist, FEMA, introduced and highlighted the importance of these new standards.
The free ASCE Flood Standard is available in the ASCE library Supplement 2 for Minimum
Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE/SEI 7-22). FEMA is planning to release a Designer’s Guide to Using the ASCE Flood Supplement this fall. If you are interested in learning more about new flood standard, receiving a presentation, and staying informed and engaged in revolutionizing flood-resilient design, please contact John Ingargiola at John.Ingargiola@fema.dhs.gov.
