In a data-driven assessment of flood-related risks for the commercial market, the First Street Foundation notes that nearly 730,000 retail, office and multi-unit properties face the risk of flood damage in the United States, resulting in approximately 3.1 million days of business interruption (BI) in 2022 growing to 4 million days by 2051.
While Hurricane Ian accounted for the bulk of global insured natural catastrophe (NatCat) losses in 2022, other regions were also hit by the most common of all NatCat events: flooding (fig 1). According to Swiss Re, global insured losses from flooding last year totaled about USD$12 billion. Flooding in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia topped $4 billion, the largest NatCat claims ever in the country's history. South Africa, as well, was hit with huge floods in April 2022, resulting in $1.8 billion in insured losses.
Flooding of all forms—e.g., coastal, inland, flash—is the most common natural disaster worldwide (fig 2). Unfortunately, Swiss Re reports that 82 percent of flood losses globally are uninsured. Flood insurance is important for any business at risk; however, it should not be the only step businesses take to mitigate the risk of flooding.
Flood risk reduction
There are many ways in which businesses can prevent or reduce the impact of flooding. Along with a tested Flood Emergency Response Plan (FERP), every company at risk for flooding should consider the range of passive and active solutions available for flood mitigation.
Passive flood protection includes products that stand ready at all times or operate automatically. Active flood protection requires some type of human intervention to deploy. It is common that a comprehensive flood mitigation investment might include a mix of passive and active systems.
For instance, passive solutions (typically do not require human intervention) may include flood-proof glazing, self-activating buoyant flood barriers, curbing, elevation of equipment and/or entrances, flood vents, permanent flood walls, penetration seals and early warning flood sensors. Active solutions (typically require human intervention) may include flood doors, sliding or hinged flood gates, flood logs, shields, panels, flood mitigation valves, flood pumps and deployable perimeter barriers.
"The number and quality of engineered flood mitigation solutions has improved dramatically over the past 20 years," notes Tom Little, co-founder, and vice chair of the Flood Mitigation Industry Association (FMIA), based in Mandeville, Louisiana, USA. "We are extreme believers in third-party certification for all flood mitigation solutions. It's not enough to simply say your solution will work. The FM Approvals diamond is the premier certification for dry flood mitigation systems."
More FM Approved options
Recently, two new flood mitigation systems earned FM Approvals certification under ANSI/FM 2510, American National Standard for Flood Mitigation Equipment.
Last year saw the certification of the world's first FM Approved wall penetration seals, made by Roxtec International AB, based in Lyckeby, Sweden.
Earlier this year, a floodproof glazing system from FENEX, LLC, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, successfully completed FM Approvals' flood mitigation testing and certification requirements under ANSI/FM 2510 (fig 3). FENEX floodproof windows are impact-rated and designed to withstand up to 10' feet of water at a maximum width of 10'7". These windows can be integrated within the permanent structure of industrial, commercial, institutional, or essential facilities as either a captured system or a structurally glazed system, requiring no deployment or storage.
"Meeting FM Approvals' stringent testing requirements demanded perseverance through multiple trials and scenarios, often involving failure," notes FENEX president Stephane Theriault in announcing the new FM Approvals certification. "Yet we remained steadfast and ultimately succeeded. We even surpassed expectations by passing additional, more rigorous tests. This achievement wouldn't have been possible without the dedication and expertise of our team of professional engineers."
Mike Cedrone, the FM Approvals senior engineer who oversaw certification testing for both new flood mitigation solutions, notes, "Since both these programs involved products that were the first of their type to be evaluated under FM 2510, there was a modest learning curve for both us and the manufacturers. Both of these companies—FENEX and Roxtec—have their own testing laboratories. We did some of the testing at those labs in addition to our own."
For FENEX flood glazing, a variety of window sizes were tested and FM Approved. The glazing is made of multiple layers of glass with vinyl interlayers—much like a car windshield—that increases the strength of the window, making it tough to break and even tougher to penetrate.
The Roxtec test program with FM Approvals involved the Model RS and Model RS UG wall penetration seals (fig 4). These seals are typically used to seal around various diameter cables and/or pipes where they penetrate walls, above or below ground. The seals consist of a circular stainless-steel frame and a cylindrical inner section made of layers of an elastomeric materials known as Roxylon™ that allows the seal to be adapted to a range of pipe or cable diameters.
Approval Guide listed
FM Approvals certifies a wide range of flood mitigation solutions, including:
- Perimeter Barriers – temporary barriers include water-filled bladders and barriers, and foldable walls provide deployable flood protection;
- Opening Barriers -- can be used to protect building openings such as pedestrian doors, garage doors, loading docks, windows and vents;
- Flood Mitigation Valves -- these products are used to prevent flood waters from backing up into a building through drains and appliances;
- Flood Mitigation Pumps -- specialized pumps are typically used in combination with perimeter and/or opening barriers to remove water from leakage or overtopping, as well as to remove unwanted water from a structure following an event thereby reducing recovery time
- Penetration Sealing Devices – solutions that seal around new or existing piping, wiring, cable, or hose: and
- Flood Glazing -- structurally laminated, reinforced clear windows provide flood protection and must resist failure even if cracked.
Today, FM Approved solutions—listed in FM Approvals' Approval Guide—are available for each of these flood mitigation product categories. FM Approved flood mitigation solutions are specified for flood protection around the world.
According to FEMA, 99 percent of US counties have experienced a flooding event between 1996 and 2019. "It's not a matter of if it will happen, but when," says Charlie Mahall, FM Approvals senior business development engineer for Fire and Flood Protection Products. When it comes to the role of flood industry organizations, Mahall notes, "We recognize the important roles that industry groups, as well as governmental and code organizations play in educating the public and industry about the potential impacts of flooding, and the solutions available to mitigate that risk."
Setting the standard in flood mitigation
Introduced by FM Approvals in 2006, FM 2510 was adopted as a national standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and designated as ANSI/FM 2510. The standard provided the industry's first third-party certification for flood protection systems. ANSI/FM 2510 remains the only standard in the world that evaluates the performance of the product in real flood conditions, as well as the individual components and materials that comprise the product. Both FM 2510 and ANSI/FM 2510 are available to download for free from fmapprovals.com.
The ground-breaking standard was adopted by the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM), in association with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and FM Approvals, as the certification standard for the National Flood Barrier Testing and Certification Program (https://floodmitigationcertification.org) for flood abatement products. FM Approved flood mitigation systems and products are now available in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and, increasingly, worldwide.
"Cities such as New York are starting to enforce the requirement for ASNI/FM 2510 testing for certain flood mitigation solutions as part of their code enforcement standards," explains FMIA's Little, who is also co-founder and president of Floodproofing.com a provider of dry and wet floodproofing solutions, design, installation and insurance services. "Speaking as vice chair of FMIA, going forward, we would like to see every flood mitigation product on the market be performance tested by a third-party. We work to educate our membership and others in the benefits for them and their customers in achieving certification."