This year marks the 15th anniversary of the introduction of Approval Standard 2510, Flood Mitigation Equipment. The standard provided the industry’s first third-party certification for flood protection systems such a temporary opening and perimeter barriers, flood valves, flood pumps, penetration seals, and flood resistant glazing.
The ground-breaking standard was quickly 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 (www.nationalfloodbarrier.org) for flood abatement products. FM Approved flood mitigation systems and products are now available worldwide.
Advance warning
FM Approvals will once again break new ground by soon introducing Approval Standard 2500, Early Warning Flood Sensor Systems, which, as the name implies, will provide a pathway for manufacturers and integrators to gain third-party certification for systems that can provide advance warning of impending floods.
While flood mapping and a limited number of flood sensors have helped in proper site location and planning, there is a lack of systems that can provide advanced, localized warning against impending flooding. In the U.S. alone, there are more than 110,000 miles of rivers. Yet, it is estimated that there are only 8,500 streamgages in the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS) Streamgaging Network.
Streamgages used by the USGS will continue to provide flood warnings, but the high costs typically associated with device acquisition, installation and maintenance have contributed to why there are still so many unmonitored rivers and streams. Since 2016, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has been working with scientists, manufacturers and utility representatives to help encourage the development of lower cost, rapidly deployable and scalable flood sensors.
“The effort by the DHS to help increase the advance warning of flooding fits our loss prevention mission very well,” notes Bob Azimi, FM Approvals operations vice president and head of Americas business development. “It’s estimated that in order to provide a full view of the flooding situation in the U.S., we would need to deploy about 200,000 more sensors. That is only possible if the cost per sensor can be brought way down. Thankfully, the internet-of-things (IoT) and other technologies available today, now make it possible to do that.”
The draft of Approval Standard 2500 has undergone external review and is being finalized for general availability this summer. “The new generation of IoT flood sensors we are seeing offer an exponential improvement in cost and data availability. Most new systems are cloud-based via cellular or satellite communications (fig 1).” says Charlie Mahall, FM Approvals senior engineer.
[pg:Flood-Warning-Sensors]New FM Standard welcomed
We recently spoke with Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, regarding the new FM Approvals standard. “Climate-related rainfall intensity has exacerbated the frequency and severity of flooding around the world. We have seen demand for lower cost flood sensors among municipalities, large corporations and property owners, transportation firms, and many others. These sensors can offer greater lead time and important information about inundation at a more affordable cost.”
He notes, “Where FM 2510 brought us the first third-party certified flood mitigation systems, I believe FM 2500 will do the same for flood sensors and other flood monitoring systems. Given the risks posed by flooding, it’s important to confirm the reliability and accuracy of products on the market.”
Berginnis points out that the partnership between his organization, FM Approvals and the Army Corps of Engineers enabled the creation in 2012 of the National Flood Barrier Testing and Certification Program. Currently, certified products listed on the site include:
- Perimeter Barriers
- Opening Barriers
- Flood Mitigation Valves
- Flood Mitigation Pumps
- Penetration Sealing Devices
- Flood Glazing
“I anticipate that we will add FM Approved flood sensor systems to that site as they emerge on the market, just as we have done with previous certified products. We are doing our best to help bring consumers closer to certified products and thereby help improve our resilience to flooding.”
Deep dive
Flooding is the most frequent natural disaster in the world, impacting more than two billion people annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reductions has noted a rise in climate-related disasters such as flooding from 3,656 incidents between 1980 and 1999 to 6,681 between 2000 and 2019.
FM Global clients experienced more than 5,100 flood and storm water losses from 2009 to 2018, amounting to billions in value. Flood mitigation measures regularly top the list of recommendations by FM Global field engineers.
For facilities in the planning stages, the simple solution is to locate the facility outside of the flood zone and levee/floodwall failure inundation areas, and design the site to ensure all storm-water drainage systems are adequate.
Ongoing analysis shows that a site within a published flood zone is five to seven times more likely to suffer a flood loss than to suffer an equivalent loss due to fire or explosion. In addition, the average flood loss is about one and a half times as great as the average fire loss.
However, for the approximately one in 10 commercial facilities already located within a flood zone, the solution isn’t quite as simple. Facilities at risk for flooding must prepare well in advance in order to keep water out of critical buildings and limit resulting damage if floodwater enters a structure.
Market view
“Today, the market for new IoT-based sensors is developing rapidly, with about 70 or so manufacturers,” notes Mahall. “As we have seen before, when a third-party standard such as FM 2500 is introduced to the market, early adopters will see certification as an opportunity to stand out from the competition by having an independent third-party validate performance claims. Lower cost providers are already attempting to disrupt this market. We are hoping to encourage that because we feel it will benefit the end user by improving the granularity of flood warnings and help reduce losses.”