# Presentation: 222011

## Optimizing Your Use of HAZUS through HAZUS User Groups and HAZUS.org

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- Moderator: Jamie Caplan, Jamie Caplan Consulting
- Speakers:
- Rich Davies, Western Disaster Center
- Tom Gates, Calvin, Giordano & Associates
- Kevin Mickey, The Polis Center

## Myths, Realities and Solutions

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- HAZUS is free
- HAZUS default data is sufficient
- HAZUS training is all you need
- Data developers
- GIS Professionals
- Data Users
- Decision Makers

## Tools to assist use of HAZUS

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- HAZUS User Groups

- www.hazus.org

**Supporting the HAZUS user community across the country, the ultimate on-line resource for everything HAZUS ...**

## HAZUS User Groups

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- The growing network of HAZUS User groups has proved to be a valuable mechanism for creating partnerships between public and private sector organizations and industry in which mutually beneficial alliances are formed, goals and objectives developed, and projects identified and executed. User groups throughout the country have found enormous benefits and opportunities to develop successful projects through collaboration, combining resources and the sharing of information, data, and tips on software usage.

## Kevin Mickey

- The Polis Center
- Chair, Central HAZUS User Group (CHUG)

## CHUG History

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- The CHUG (Central HAZUS Users Group) was started in 2005
- CHUG was originally designed to have regular regional meetings with interim coordination by a strategic committee.
- Impractical due to participant travel limitations and lack of a funded logistical team

## Current Composition

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- Strategic committee currently made up of 25 individuals from each of the states in FEMA Region V.
- Committee meets monthly by phone conference.

## Strategic Committee Responsibilities

- Maintain awareness of how HAZUS-MH is being used within the region
- Encourage use of HAZUS-MH with in the region among all user sectors
- Create opportunities for HAZUS-MH users to learn about HAZUS-MH thru a website, training, and other means.

## Strategic Committee Responsibilities

- Serve as the liaison between CHUG users and FEMA
- Report major concerns about HAZUS-MH releases expressed by users
- Identify suggested improvements to HAZUS-MH
- Convey information about HAZUS-MH projects occurring within the region
- The CHUG works closely with FEMA Region V which is represented on the Strategic Committee

## Strategic Committee Member Responsibilities

- Report on activities occurring in their states
- Promote the agenda of the strategic committee
- Serve as the liaison between local participants and the CHUG strategic committee

## Key Accomplishments

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- User group kickoff meeting – Indianapolis 2004 (100+ participants)
- CHUG Conference – Chicago 2005 (25+ participants)
- Training
- State sponsored
- FEMA sponsored
- CHUG Website

## Key Accomplishments

- HAZUS Project Documentation Guidelines (metadata with a HAZUS-MH focus)
- Goal is help users increase the credibility of their work with HAZUS-MH by creating proper documentation.
- Examples of information collected
- Who created project?
- What inventory data was modified and how?
- What local hazard data was integrated and how was it derived?
- Were any parameters modified when running the analysis?
- Applicable for all HAZUS-MH users

## Future Plans

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- Challenges
- Ensuring that the strategic committee remain an activity oriented group
- Ensuring that strategic committee members actively promote the goals of the CHUG within their states
- CHUG is all volunteer.  We need to identify logistical support to facilitate the goals of the CHUG across the region.

## Opportunities

- New flood model features in HAZUS-MH MR3 are expected to significantly increase use of the model across the region.

## Opportunities

- Identification and promotion of expert resources in the region
- Development of additional guidelines
- Inventory data collection and dissemination
- Hazard recommendations

## Tom Gates

- Calvin, Giordano & Associates
- Florida HAZUS User Group (FLHUG)

## Florida HAZUS User Group

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- Overview of Florida HUG and sub chapters such as the Southeast Florida HUG

## Southeast Florida HUG

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## Similarities / Differences

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## Why more than a single Florida HUG?

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## When, Why, Who and How the SEHUG was formed

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## SW Florida Pilot project 2004

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- Lessons learned / White Paper Available @
- A Consortium and repository for State data updates
- Ensure data standards are enforced
- Local & County government data sharing agreements

## Supporting User community / enhancing HAZUS Knowledge

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- End users / Clients;
- Educate to understand abilities and limitations, at a minimum enough to ask for what they need or want

## Our officers, partners & users

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- Open to all & made up of a core of advanced HAZUS Modelers / Power users from both public & Private sector
- Offering Diversity of Knowledge & Experience not just with HAZUS but GIS & Planning as well

## Florida HUG Goals & Objectives

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- FEMA / NIBS / Developers / Contractors
- FLHUG works closely with these players, to bring the user community greater understanding of the models and planned enhancements

## Bridging HAZUS and GIS with the Planner & Responder community

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- Mitigation; Cost benefit
- Operations; Debris Management, Response; Overlay National grid for search and rescue / recovery

## Training Opportunities

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- State funded regional EMI HAZUS curriculum
- Vision to transfer some HAZUS training to local academia

## If we work together, we can get it done!

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- A single person working alone can not accomplish this challenge
- A single person’s effort’s in concert with other like minded people working on a common goal is an unstoppable force.
- That is FLHUG!!!

## Rich Davies

- Western Disaster Center
- BAHUG and www.hazus.org

## Bay Area HAZUS User Group

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- History
- Current State

## www.hazus.org

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- History
- Current and Future

## Key Resources

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