Haestad Methods has announced that its line of stormwater software has been approved by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and added to its list of numerical models accepted for use in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
PondPack®, StormCAD®, CulvertMaster®, and FlowMaster® – used extensively by municipal governments, state and federal agencies, and consulting firms in the United States –now can be used for determining flood hazards in all 50 states.
The NFIP makes federally backed flood insurance available to residents and businesses in over 20,000 U.S. communities and identifies and maps the nation's floodplains. FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) and Flood Insurance Studies (FISs) provide communities with 100-year flood elevations for rivers and coastal areas, which are used in the implementation of floodplain management programs.
"This is where our software comes in," said Jennifer Hatchett, director of Government Relations at Haestad Methods. "Over the years, an increasing number of our users have asked if they could use our software for FEMA flood studies or for supporting revisions to existing FEMA flood maps. We contacted FEMA to initiate the review and approval process for our software, and I am proud to say that we have delivered on our clients' needs."
With FEMA approval, existing users of Haestad Methods' stormwater software will be able to take on NFIP related work using tools they are already comfortable with. Cliff Toberman, President of Toberman & Associates, said: "Before FEMA approval, we would perform a preliminary analysis using Haestad Methods' software and then have to use another product that was harder to use, inconsistent, and limited in graphing and reporting capabilities. Now, with Haestad Methods' FEMA approval, we only have to use one package that is uniform, easy-to-use, and accurate. This is going to save us time on our projects."
"Future users will have an added bonus when they select stormwater software from Haestad Methods," added Hatchett. "The ability to apply the software to a broader scope of projects will just add to the return on their software investment."
Source: Haestad Methods