Free Flood Damage Calculator
Estimate property flood damage using FEMA HAZUS 4.0 and JRC global damage functions. No sign-up required.
HAZUS vs JRC Damage Comparison
HAZUS Depth-Damage Curve
JRC Depth-Damage Curve
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Create a free account to run unlimited flood damage estimates, batch process up to 5,000 buildings, and access detailed depth-damage curves.
How the Flood Damage Calculator Works
Enter Property Details
Specify property type, flood depth, replacement value, and location. Supports 33 FEMA occupancy types.
Dual-Source Analysis
Your inputs are evaluated against FEMA HAZUS 4.0 (US depth-damage curves) and JRC Huizinga 2017 (global damage functions) simultaneously.
Get Instant Results
Receive structural loss, contents loss, and damage ratios from both models. Compare US and international estimates side by side.
How Flood Damage Assessment Works
Flood damage assessment starts with a depth-damage function: a curve that maps flood water depth to a damage ratio for a specific building type. At 1 foot of water, a single-family home might sustain 15% structural damage. At 8 feet, that ratio climbs above 50%. These curves, developed from decades of post-flood engineering surveys by USACE and FEMA, are the foundation of every flood damage calculator and feed directly into probable maximum loss calculations and catastrophe modeling.
FEMA’s HAZUS model contains 196 HAZUS depth-damage curves covering 33 US building types. The European Commission’s JRC model extends coverage to 214 countries. This flood damage calculator applies both sources independently, giving you a dual-source damage estimate for any building type and location.
HAZUS vs JRC: Two Damage Models Compared
This flood damage calculator runs two independent damage models on every estimate. Here is how they differ:
| Feature | HAZUS (FEMA) | JRC (European Commission) |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | FEMA, US Government | Joint Research Centre, EU |
| Coverage | United States (33 occupancy types) | 214 countries (6 economic sectors) |
| Damage metric | Structural + contents loss (USD) | Total loss (EUR per m²) |
| Curve basis | Historical US flood claims + USACE surveys | Multi-country empirical data + expert review |
| Depth range | -4 to +24 feet (29 points) | 0 to 6 meters (9 points) |
| Uncertainty | No published standard deviation | Standard deviation per depth point |
| Building input | Occupancy, stories, basement, flood zone | Sector, country, floor area |
| Reference | FEMA HAZUS 4.0 Technical Manual | Huizinga et al. (2017) |
33 Building Types Supported
HAZUS classifies buildings into 33 occupancy types, each with distinct depth-damage curves for structural and contents damage. Select your building type in the calculator above and the correct curve is applied automatically.
| Category | Code | Description | Story Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | RES1 | Single Family Dwelling | 1, 2, 3+, Split Level |
| Residential | RES2 | Mobile Home (Manufactured Housing) | Any |
| Residential | RES3A | Duplex | 1-2, 3-4, 5+ |
| Residential | RES3B | Multi-Family (3-4 Units) | 1-2, 3-4, 5+ |
| Residential | RES3C | Multi-Family (5-9 Units) | 1-2, 3-4, 5+ |
| Residential | RES3D | Multi-Family (10-19 Units) | 1-2, 3-4, 5+ |
| Residential | RES3E | Multi-Family (20-49 Units) | 1-2, 3-4, 5+ |
| Residential | RES3F | Multi-Family (50+ Units) | 1-2, 3-4, 5+ |
| Residential | RES4 | Hotel / Motel | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Residential | RES5 | Institutional Dormitory | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Residential | RES6 | Nursing Home | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Commercial | COM1 | Retail Trade | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Commercial | COM2 | Wholesale Trade | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Commercial | COM3 | Personal and Repair Services | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Commercial | COM4 | Professional / Technical / Office | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Commercial | COM5 | Banks / Financial Institutions | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Commercial | COM6 | Hospital | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Commercial | COM7 | Medical Office / Clinic | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Commercial | COM8 | Entertainment and Recreation | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Commercial | COM9 | Theaters | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Commercial | COM10 | Parking | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Industrial | IND1 | Heavy Industrial | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Industrial | IND2 | Light Industrial | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Industrial | IND3 | Food / Drugs / Chemicals | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Industrial | IND4 | Metals / Minerals Processing | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Industrial | IND5 | High Technology | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Industrial | IND6 | Construction | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Other | AGR1 | Agriculture | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Other | REL1 | Church / Non-Profit | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Other | GOV1 | General Government Services | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Other | GOV2 | Emergency Response (Fire, Police) | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Other | EDU1 | Schools / Libraries (K-12) | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
| Other | EDU2 | Colleges / Universities | 1-3, 4-7, 8+ |
Run Bulk Flood Damage Estimates
Need to assess hundreds or thousands of buildings at once? Upload a CSV with your building portfolio and get HAZUS and JRC estimates for every property in a single batch.
- Process up to 5,000 buildings per batch
- Track status for each estimate (completed, partial, failed)
- Download results as JSON or view individual reports
Full Methodology Disclosure
Every estimate includes a methodology document covering data sources, computation pipeline, curve characteristics, default assumptions, and limitations. Two peer-reviewed sources are computed independently for every building:
- FEMA HAZUS 4.0 — 196 depth-damage functions across 33 US occupancy types. Separate structural and contents curves. Depth range: -4 to +24 feet.
- JRC Huizinga et al. 2017 — Global coverage across 214 countries and 6 economic sectors. Country-specific construction cost data. Published standard deviations.
HAZUS Depth-Damage Curves
Each HAZUS curve maps flood depth to damage percentage for a specific building type. The chart shows separate curves for structural damage and contents damage, with a red marker at the input flood depth. Damage is measured relative to the first finished floor, so negative depths represent basement flooding.
29 depth points from -4 to +24 feet (1-foot intervals)
Separate structural and contents curves per building type
Source: FIA/NFIP claims data and USACE engineering surveys
JRC Global Damage Curves
For properties outside the US, the JRC model provides damage curves for 214 countries across 6 continents. The green confidence band shows standard deviation bounds, a measure of uncertainty that HAZUS does not provide. Country-specific construction cost data converts damage ratios into monetary loss estimates.
9 depth points from 0 to 6 meters
Standard deviation at every depth point for uncertainty quantification
Country-specific maximum damage values from World Bank and national databases