The 1% chance that a flood will occur in a year. However, a 100-year flood can occur multiple times throughout the year. This is normally used as a baseline for design.

A system of computer programs for predicting storm surge and flooding, modelling tides and wind driven circulation etc.

The average time vehicles spent on any specific road or highway to reach from point A (starting) to point B (destination).

The elevation of water from a flood that is suspected during a given event such as 100-year storm.

The distance between two piers or one pier and one abutment of a bridge.

The age of a building is used in NJFloodAlert’s model to determine the building codes and rules used at the time of construction for evaluating building functionality and performance.

A set of standards for building and bridge design and construction designated by the government for the protection of consumers and the surrounding environment.

The component of a structure which connects it to the ground and transfers the structural load to the ground.

For NJFloodAlert’s model, the material of a building is considered combustible or noncombustible. A combustible material has the ability to catch fire or ignite where a noncombustible material is fire resistant. An example of combustible material is wood and noncombustible is concrete.

Whether a building is detached/freestanding (ex. Suburban neighborhoods) or attached/walls connected (ex. Urban areas).

For NJFloodAlert’s model, the building type is measured by the lowest floor (basement vs. no basement) and/or the foundation type (elevated vs non-elevated).

The degradation of beaches and cliffs along the coastline due to events such as storm surges, wave impact, flooding, human interaction and sea level rise.

The interactions with infrastructure, natural environment, and communities in a coastal zone that have negative effects in the area such as economic and health losses.

Areas, defined along the coastline, which are most likely to be affected by coastal related hazards such as storm inundation, flooding, and sea level rise.

During an emergency event, facilities that are essential to protection and recovery, such as police stations, hospitals, gas stations, grocery stores, fire stations, etc. This can also include bridges as they provide important evacuation routes.

A deviation/diversion of traffic movements to avoid a prohibited segment of roadway network.

A 3D representation of a terrain's surface created from a terrain's elevation data.

Taking the action to gauge, design, and enforce policies, ideas, and measures that help communities prepare, recover, and adapt to disasters. NJFloodAlert’s model can help communities in disaster management.

Factors including income, home ownership, and residency influence a community's ability to prepare for and respond to hazard events.

The state road(s) and highway(s) have been identified by Government Agencies to be utilized during natural calamities/emergencies to transfer people and guide traffic inland to safe zones.

The evacuation traffic velocity distribution over time is called speed profile. This distribution represents the variation in vehicle speeds in different conditions.

An agency responsible for responding to disaster events such as hurricanes, extreme floods, earthquakes. This agency is a part of the United States Department of Homeland Security.

A high velocity large volume of water caused by intense rainfall occurring in minutes with little to no warning. For areas that have little to no pervious surface, flash flooding is more likely.

Chance that a flood event will occur in a given period of time (i.e., 100-year flood).

A model used to identify areas that are susceptible to flooding based off of storm intensity, flood velocity, elevation and topography of area. Flood inundation mapping is also used to model the interactions between the flood event and the environment which they inundate.

During a specific flood event, such as a 100-year storm, the area in which is suspected to be flooded.

Shallow foundations that are embedded into soil for a short depth.

The ability of a structure to maintain its intended performance.

A computer model used to predict the potential losses from earthquakes, floods and hurricanes.

The forces of moving water. An example of a hydrodynamic force is the impact of wave action.

The forces of stationary water. An example of a hydrostatic force is the force exerted by lagoon water on docks.

A web-based application developed by Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (Penn DOT) to provide detour routes/maps for traffic management during emergency circumstances.

An index is a quantitative measurement to measure various interacting characteristics in an easily interpretable scale.

Land cover data shows how much of a region is covered by forests, wetlands, impervious surfaces, agriculture, and other land and water types. Land use shows how people use the landscape whether for development, conservation, or mixed uses.

Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging used to measure elevation with high resolution. LiDAR is used alongside cameras on devices such as drones and aircraft.

Maximum probable wave height during a hurricane event.

Over a designated period of time, the average level of the sea measured from an arbitrary, but common, datum. Common time periods include, monthly, annually, and a 19-year tide cycle.

Characteristics of the natural and built environment, such as percent impervious surface, effect on a community's exposure to extreme hazards events.

The common datum currently used as a reference for measurements such as BFE and SLR.

A minor flood event, which occurs during high tide. Because nuisance floods are dependent on the tides, they can occur during sunny days and tend to recur during the high tide cycle.

Likelihood of structural demand exceeding structural capacity under a certain limit state.

A traffic flow simulation software allowing the modeling traffic patterns at a microscopic level.

The rate a building returns to its original functionality from damage. The time it takes to receive funding and construction repairs are included in the rate. This is used to measure to help measure resilience.

Vertical distance from bottom of the bridge superstructure cross-section to the storm water level (positive if storm water level is below the bottom of the super structure cross-section).

An index quantifying the ability of a structure to maintain the strength and functionality after a storm event and its rapidity to restore.

The ability of a structure to maintain its strength and functionality.

The process of erosion of the soil around the foundations of the structures during storm surge and flood events.

The rise of global mean sea level measured from a datum. The sea level can be affected by the changing lands caused by erosion, water volume increase do to melting ice, and other environmental factors.

Significant wave height is defined as the average height of the highest one-third waves in a wave spectrum. This happens to correlate very well with the wave height a skilled observer perceives in a wave spectrum.

Characteristics of the community, such as age, demographics, and language, influence the ability of community members to recover from extreme hazards.

This is the rising of the sea caused by a storm event. Flooding occurs from storm surges when the surge rises above land elevation.

Strength of a structure against a certain limit state.

The limit state at which hurricane induced forces tend to fail a structure.

Different ways that a structure may fail.

The impediment/disruption of traffic free flow occurs due to specific physical circumstance, is called traffic bottleneck.

A hydraulic model used to simulate flood inundation due to various storm events.

This is a numerical measurement of the vulnerability of a community to a storm event, incorporating social, economic, natural, and structural factors. The index is measured on a scale from 0-1 where 0 is the least vulnerable and 1 is the most vulnerable.

Multiple evacuation scenarios developed to evacuate people under different category hurricanes, i.e. hurricane category 1, hurricane category 2, etc.