@article {bnh-2657, title = {Calibration and validation of FLFArs {\textendash} a new flood loss function for Australian residential structures}, journal = {Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences}, volume = {16}, year = {2016}, month = {01/2016}, pages = {15-27}, chapter = {15}, abstract = {

Rapid urbanisation, climate change and unsustain- able developments are increasing the risk of floods. Flood is a frequent natural hazard that has significant financial con- sequences for Australia. The emergency response system in Australia is very successful and has saved many lives over the years. However, the preparedness for natural disaster im- pacts in terms of loss reduction and damage mitigation has been less successful.

In this paper, a newly derived flood loss function for Australian residential structures (FLFArs ) has been presented and calibrated by using historic data collected from an extreme event in Queensland, Australia, that occurred in 2013. After- wards, the performance of the method developed in this work (contrasted to one Australian model and one model from USA) has been compared with the observed damage data collected from a 2012 flood event in Maranoa, Queensland. Based on this analysis, validation of the selected methodolo- gies has been performed in terms of Australian geographical conditions.

Results obtained from the new empirically based function (FLFArs ) and the other models indicate that it is apparent that the precision of flood damage models is strongly dependent on selected stage damage curves, and flood damage estima- tion without model calibration might result in inaccurate predictions of losses. Therefore, it is very important to be aware of the associated uncertainties in flood risk assessment, es- pecially if models have not been calibrated with real damage data.

}, doi = {10.5194/nhess-16-15-2016}, url = {http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/16/15/2016/}, author = {Roozbeh Hasanzadeh Nafari and Tuan Ngo and Lehman, W.} }