Spatial Hazard Events and Losses for the United States, 1995-2000

Title:

Abstract:

This data set is a subset of the Spatial Hazard Events and Losses Database for the United States (SHELDUS Version 2.0) that was compiled by the University of South Carolina. It portrays county-level hazard data for the United States, for the years 1995 to 2000. Included is information for 16 different natural hazard event types, as well as the total cost of damage due to natural hazards. The event types included are avalanches, coastal events, drought, flooding, fog, hail, heat, hurricanes/tropical storms, landslides, lightning, severe storms/thunderstorms, tornadoes, tsunamis/seiches, wildfires, wind, and winter weather. For each event type, information is reported on property losses, crop losses, injuries, and fatalities in each county.

The hazards information was derived from several existing national data sources such as the National Climatic Data Center's (NCDC) monthly Storm Data publications and the National Geophysical Data Center's Tsunami Event Database. Included are those events that generated more than $50,000 in damages, and events that are reported in NCDC's Storm Data with a specific damage amount.

This is an update of the August, 2004, data set. A field containing information on property damage per square mile has been added to the total damages file.

Supplemental_Information:

To create maps that are similar to the maps in the National Atlas <http://nationalatlas.gov/natlas/Natlasstart.asp>, the database files can be joined to the 1990 county boundaries available from the National Atlas download page, <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html?openChapters=chpbound#chpbound>.

The Spatial Hazard Events and Losses Database for the United States (SHELDUS) was compiled and geo-referenced by the Hazards Research Lab at the University of South Carolina. The database was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the University of South Carolina's Office of the Vice President for Research. For more information see <http://go2.cla.sc.edu/hazard/db_registration>.

SHELDUS was compiled from the following sources:

Data for avalanches, coastal events, droughts, flooding, fog, heat, landslides, lightning, severe storms/thunderstorms, and winter weather were compiled from: National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, "Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena" <http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html>. All natural hazard events with a unique dollar amount in losses (1995-2000) were manually entered into the database.

Data for hail and wind were compiled from: a) National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, "Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena"" <http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html>. All natural hazard events with a unique dollar amount in losses (1995-2000) were manually entered into the database. b) Supplementary information was received from the Storm Prediction Center, Norman, OK (1960-1995) at <http://www.spc.noaa.gov/archive/index.html>.

Data for hurricanes/tropical storms were compiled from: a) National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, "Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena" <http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html>. All natural hazard events with a unique dollar amount in losses (1995-2000) were manually entered into the database. b) Supplementary information was received from the National Hurricane Center at <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml> and "Monthly Weather Review".

Data for tornadoes were compiled from: a) National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, "Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena" <http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html>. All natural hazard events with a unique dollar amount in losses (2000) were manually entered into the database. b) Supplementary information was received from the Storm Prediction Center, Norman, OK (1960-1995) at <http://www.spc.noaa.gov/archive/index.html>.

Data for tsunamis/seiches were compiled from: National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, CO, "Tsunami Event Database" <http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/ngdc.html>. Every natural hazard event with more than $50,000 in losses (1960-2000) was manually entered into the database.

Data for wildfires were compiled from: a) National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, "Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena" <http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html>. All natural hazard events with a unique dollar amount in losses (1995-2000) were manually entered into the database. b) Supplementary data was received from The U.S. Fire Administration at <http://www.usfa.fema.gov>.

The data set of Spatial Hazard Events and Losses for the United States, 1995-2000 consists of 17 database files that are distributed together. There are 16 hazard event type files, described by shelYYt.dbf where YY is the type of hazard, listed below. Shelsmt.dbf describes total hazard damages for each county for the subject time period. Each file contains records only for the counties affected by the event type.

shelYYt  YY  Hazard Event
---------------------------------------
shel01t   1  Avalanche
shel02t   2  Coastal
shel03t   3  Drought
shel05t   5  Flooding
shel06t   6  Fog
shel07t   7  Hail
shel08t   8  Heat
shel09t   9  Hurricane/Tropical Storm
shel10t  10  Landslide
shel11t  11  Lightning
shel12t  12  Severe Storm/Thunderstorm
shel13t  13  Tornado
shel14t  14  Tsunami/Seiche
shel16t  16  Wildfire
shel17t  17  Wind
shel18t  18  Winter Weather
shelsmt      Total damages for each county

shelYYt YY Hazard Event Number of counties affected ----------------------------------------------------------------------- shel01t 1 Avalanche 60 shel02t 2 Coastal 129 shel03t 3 Drought 927 shel05t 5 Flooding 2387 shel06t 6 Fog 90 shel07t 7 Hail 1702 shel08t 8 Heat 1039 shel09t 9 Hurricane/Tropical Storm 357 shel10t 10 Landslide 9 shel11t 11 Lightning 1483 shel12t 12 Severe Storm/Thunderstorm 2648 shel13t 13 Tornado 2189 shel14t 14 Tsunami/Seiche 3 shel16t 16 Wildfire 194 shel17t 17 Wind 3030 shel18t 18 Winter Weather 2461 shelsmt Total damages for each county 3124

Formal codeset

Codeset Name:

Codes for the Identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the Outlying Areas of the United States, and Associated Areas; (Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 5-2): Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Codeset Source:

U.S. Department of Commerce

Formal codeset

Codeset Name:

Counties and Equivalent Entities of the United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas; FIPS 6-4: Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Codeset Source:

U.S. Department of Commerce

Formal codeset

Codeset Name:

Counties and Equivalent Entities of the United States, Its Possessions, and Associated Areas; FIPS 6-4: Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Codeset Source:

U.S. Department of Commerce

Formal codeset

Codeset Name:

Codes for the Identification of the States, the District of Columbia and the Outlying Areas of the United States, and Associated Areas; FIPS 5-2: Washington, DC, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Codeset Source:

U.S. Department of Commerce

Range of values

Minimum:

Maximum:

238

Range of values

Minimum:

0.00

Maximum:

348.85

Range of values

Minimum:

0.00

Maximum:

50000.4

Range of values

Minimum:

0.0000

Maximum:

3038854431.5210

Range of values

Minimum:

0.0000

Maximum:

641616666.6729

Range of values

Minimum:

0.0000

Maximum:

13903472.5067

Data format:

dBASE IV file

Network links:

<http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html?openChapters=chpclim#chpclim>

Spatial Hazard Events and Losses for the United States, 1995-2000

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