However, due to time constraints and lack of data, these models sometimes incorporate "off-the-shelf" damage calculations based on previous unrelated floods. A Johns Hopkins expert on natural disaster risk modeling has developed a reliable and affordable way for governments to estimate expected damage from riverine floods—those caused by rivers overflowing their banks. In the new study, Pita first investigated the accuracy of using expert opinion alone to estimate and predict flood damage. The result is a method that Pita expects to be "very useful" for flood modelers and influencing preparedness policy. All of this is to say that better flood damage data and predictions have the potential to have far-reaching benefits," he said.
