Version 22

Metadata

  1. About SHELDUS Version 22.0
  2. RAW DATA Download/Output
  3. AGGREGATED DATA Download/Output
  4. SHELDUS Data Sources
  5. Raw Data Manipulation
  6. Aggregated Data Manipulation
  7. SHELDUS Version History
  8. How to Reference SHELDUS
  9. Contact Information
  10. End-user License Agreement, Data Sharing and Publication Restrictions
  11. Download Metadata as PDF
 

1. About SHELDUS Version 22.0

SHELDUS Version 22.0 was launched on January 15, 2024. The database covers the period from January 1960 to December 2022. SHELDUS is a county-level hazard data set for the U.S. and covers natural hazards such thunderstorms, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and tornados as well as perils such as flash floods, heavy rainfall, etc. The database contains information on the date of an event, affected location (county and state) and the direct losses caused by the event (property and crop losses, injuries, and fatalities) as well as insured crop losses (indemnity payments by the U.S. Department of Agriculture). Insured crop losses cover the period from January 1989 to December 2022. The database contains loss information for Puerto Rico, Guam, and other U.S. territories from 2000 through 2022.
SHELDUS is updated annually.
 
SHELDUS can be searched for the following hazard types:
  1. Avalanche
  2. Coastal
  3. Drought
  4. Earthquake
  5. Flood
  6. Fog
  7. Hail
  8. Heat
  9. Hurricane/Tropical Storm
  10. Landslide
  11. Lightning
  12. Severe Thunderstorm
  13. Tornado
  14. Tsunami/Seiche
  15. Volcano
  16. Wildfire
  17. Wind
  18. Winter Weather
SHELDUS can now be searched by perils:
  1. Air Stagnation
  2. Air Turbulence
  3. Airburst
  4. Animal Incident
  5. Ashfall
  6. Asian Soybean Rust
  7. Avalanche - Debris
  8. Avalanche - Snow
  9. Bacterial Disease
  10. Blizzard
  11. Cloudburst
  12. Coastal Storm
  13. Cold Wave
  14. Collision
  15. Cyclone - Extratropical
  16. Cyclone - Subtropical
  17. Cyclone - Unspecified
  18. Dam Failure
  19. Debris Flow
  20. Derecho
  21. Disease
  22. Downburst
  23. Dust Devil
  24. Dust Storm
  25. Electrical Storm
  26. Energetic Particles
  27. Erosion - Coastal
  28. Erosion - Lakeshore
  29. Erosion - Unspecified
  30. Expansive Soil
  31. Fire - Brush
  32. Fire - following Earthquake
  33. Fire - Forest
  34. Fire - Grass
  35. Fire - St Elmo's
  36. Fire - Tornado
  37. Flood - Coastal
  38. Flood - Flash
  39. Flood - Ice Jam
  40. Flood - Lakeshore
  41. Flood - Lowland
  42. Flood - Riverine
  43. Flood - Rural
  44. Flood - Small Stream
  45. Flood - Snowmelt
  46. Flood - Tidal
  47. Flood - Urban
  48. Freeze
  49. Freezing Fog
  50. Freezing Rain
  51. Freezing Spray
  52. Frost
  53. Fungal Disease
  54. Funnel
  55. Geomagnetic Storm
  56. Glacial Lake Outburst
  57. Glaze
  58. Gustnado
  59. Heat Wave
  60. High Seas
  61. Hyperthermia
  62. Hypothermia
  63. Ice
  64. Ice Breakup
  65. Impact
  66. Insect Infestation
  67. Lahar
  68. Landslide following Earthquake
  69. Landslide - Slump
  70. Lava Flow
  71. Liquefaction
  72. Macroburst
  73. Marine Incident
  74. Mass Movement
  75. Microburst
  76. Mud Flow
  77. Mudslide
  78. Myotoxin
  79. Nor'easter
  80. Parasitic Disease
  81. Pressure - Change
  82. Pressure - High
  83. Pressure - Low
  84. Prion Disease
  85. Pyroclastic Flow
  86. Radio Disturbance
  87. Rain
  88. Rip Current
  89. Rip Tide
  90. Rock Slide
  91. Rockfall
  92. Salinity
  93. Sandstorm
  94. Seiche
  95. Shockwave
  96. Sinkhole
  97. Sleet
  98. Smog
  99. Smoke
  100. Snow
  101. Snow - Drifting
  102. Snow - Lake Effect
  103. Snow - Slide
  104. Snow - Squall
  105. Space Weather
  106. Storm Surge
  107. Storm - Convective
  108. Storm - Frontal
  109. Storm - Midlatitude
  110. Storm - Winter
  111. Subsidence
  112. Surf
  113. Swell
  114. Temperature - High
  115. Temperature - Low
  116. Tidal Wave
  117. Tide - High
  118. Tide - Low
  119. Tide - Rip
  120. Tropical Depression
  121. Tropical Storm
  122. Viral Disease
  123. Vog
  124. Water Damage
  125. Waterspout
  126. Wave Action
  127. Wave - Rogue
  128. Wave - Sneaker
  129. Wet Spells
  130. Wind Chill
  131. Wind - Chinook
  132. Wind - Gale
  133. Wind - Gust
  134. Wind - Santa Ana
  135. Wind - Squall
  136. Wind - Tornadic
  137. Wind - Vortex
  138. Wintry Mix
  139. Tsunami

 2. RAW DATA Download/Output

Depending on your selected type of search (e.g., Location and Date, Named Events, etc.) during your data query, your raw data download may not include all of the fields listed below.
Column 
Data Format
Description
County
Text
Name of County
County_FIPS
Text
5-digit Federal Information Processing Standard code (FIPS), which uniquely identifies counties and county equivalents in the U.S.
CropDmg
Currency
Damage to crop in U.S. dollars (current year), no decimal places
CropDmg(Adj)
Currency
Damage to crop in adjusted U.S. dollars (selected base year), 2 decimal places
CropDmgDuration
Integer
Lenght of the event expressed in number of days with crop damage
CropDmgPerCapita
Currency
Damage to crop in adjusted U.S. dollars (base: most recent inflation year in SHELDUS) divided by the annual county population; per capita calculations are based on current population; 5 decimal places
CropIndemnity Payment
Currency
Insured amount of the crop loss paid for the designated peril (in current year dollars); no decimal places
CropIndemnityPayment(Adj)
Currency
Insured amount of the crop loss paid for the designated peril in adjusted U.S. dollars (selected base year); 2 decimal places
CropIndemnityPaymentPerCapita
Currency
Insured amount of the crop loss paid for the designated peril in adjusted U.S. dollars (base: most recent inflation year in SHELDUS) divided by annual county population; per capita calculations are based on current population; 2 decimal places
EndDate
Date
Date when the event ended (mm/dd/yyyy)
EventName
Text
Named Billion Dollar Disaster; record belongs to a large-scale, high-impact event that was named according to NCEI's (formerly NCDC's) Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (see NCEI's Billion Dollar Disasters)
Fatalities
Number
Count of people killed
FatalitiesDuration
Integer
Lenght of the event expressed in number of days with fatalities
FatalitiesPerCapita
Number
Count of people killed/divided by the annual county population; per capita calculations are based on current population; 5 decimal places
GLIDE
Integer
Global Disaster Identifier Number; record belongs to a large-scale, high-impact event as identified by the Global Disaster Identifier Number (see www.glidenumber.net)
Hazard
Text
Classification of the event into one or more of the 18 SHELDUS hazard types
Injuries
Number
Count of people injured
InjuriesDuration
Integer
Length of the event expressed in number of days with injuries
InjuriesPerCapita
Number
Count of people injured/divided by the annual county population; per capita calculations are based on current population; 5 decimal places
Location
Text
Location information as provided by the data source; generally below the county level
Month
Integer
Month during which the event occurred, values range from 1 to 12
PDD
Integer
Presidential Disaster Declaration Number; record belongs to a large-scale, high-impact event that resulted in a Presidential Disaster Declaration (see FEMA)
PropertyDmg
Currency
Damage to property in U.S. dollars (current year), no decimal places
PropertyDmg(Adj)
Currency
Damage to property in adjusted U.S. dollars (selected base year), 2 decimal places
PropertyDmgDuration
Integer
Length of the event expressed in number of days with property damage
PropertyDmgPerCapita
Currency
Damage to property in adjusted U.S. dollars (base: most recent inflation year included in SHELDUS) divided by the annual county population; per capita calculations are based on current population; 5 decimal places
Quarter
Integer
Annual quarter during which the event occurred, values range from 1 to 12
Remarks
Text
Hazard description according to the data source
Start Date
Date
Date when the event began (mm/dd/yyyy)
StateName
Text
State Postal Code
Year
Integer
Year during which the event occurred

 3. AGGREGATED DATA Download/Output

Depending on levels of aggregation selected during your data query, your aggregation download may not include all of the fields listed below.
Column 
Data Format
Description
CropDmg
Currency
Damage to crop in U.S. dollars (current year), no decimal places
CropDmg(Adj)
Currency
Damage to crop in adjusted U.S. dollars (selected base year), 2 decimal places
CropDmgPerCapita
Currency
Damage to crop in adjusted U.S. dollars (base: most recent inflation year included in SHELDUS) divided by the annual county population; per capita calculations are based on current population; 6 decimal places
Crop_Dmg_Duration
Integer
Length of events with a crop loss expressed in number of days
County Name
Text
Name of County
County FIPS
Text
5-digit Federal Information Processing Standard code (FIPS), which uniquely identifies counties and county equivalents in the U.S.
Duration_Days
Integer
Length of events with a loss expressed in number of days
Fatalities
Number
Count of people killed
FatalitiesPerCapita
Number
Count of people killed/divided by the annual county population; per capita calculations are based on current population; 6 decimal places
Fatalities_Duration
Integer
Length of events with fatalities expressed in number of days
Hazard
Text
Classification of the event into one or more of the 18 SHELDUS hazard types
Injuries
Number
Count of people injured
InjuriesPerCapita
Number
Count of people injured/divided by the annual county population; per capita calculations are based on current population; 6 decimal places
Injuries_Duration
Integer
Length of events with injuries expressed in number of days
Month
Integer
Month of a given year when the aggregated events occurred (1=January, 2=February, etc.)
PropertyDmg
Currency
Damage to property in U.S. dollars (current year), no decimal places
PropertyDmg(Adj)
Currency
Damage to property in adjusted U.S. dollars (selected base year), 2 decimal places
PropertyDmgPerCapita
Currency
Damage to property in adjusted U.S. dollars (base: most recent inflation year included in SHELDUS) divided by the annual county population; per capita calculations are based on current population; 6 decimal places
Property_Dmg_Duration
Integer
Length of events with a property loss expressed in number of days
Quarter
Integer
Quarter of a given year when the aggregated events occurred (1=January-March, 2=April-June, etc.)
Records
Integer
Count of the underlying raw data records that were used to generate the aggregated loss values. Note: When selecting aggregation by hazard type, the sum of values in the RECORDS column will be higher than the actual number of underlying raw data records. In cases, where the loss was caused by multiple but different hazard types (e.g., flooding and wind), the record will be both counted in the Flood and Wind category.
State Name
Text
Name of State
Year
Date
Year when the aggregated events occurred

 4. SHELDUS Data Sources 

  1. Avalanche:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  2. Coastal:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  3. Drought:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  4. Earthquakes :
    a. Stover, Carl W. and Jerry L. Coffman, 1993. Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (revised). U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 418 p.
  5. Flood:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  6. Fog:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  7. Hail:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  8. Heat:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  9. Hurricane/Tropical Storm:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  10. Landslide:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
    b. United States Geological Survey Landslide News & Info
    c. United States Department of Agriculture Cost Estimating Guide for Road Construction
    e. Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Statewide Landslide Information Layer for Oregon
    f. Media reports
  11. Lightning:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  12. Severe Thunderstorm:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  13. Tornado:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  14. Tsunami/Seiche:
  15. Volcanic Events:
    a. Blong, RJ 1984. Volcanic Hazards: A Source Book on the Effects of Eruptions. Academic Press.
  16. Wildfire:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  17. Wind:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  18. Winter Weather:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Storm Data and Unusual Weather Phenomena, hard copies for 1960-1999 and digital data imports since 2000
  19. Named Disasters:
    a. National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Climatic Data Center) Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters; SHELDUS includes only those events greater than $1billion or with a significant number of fatalities. Billion dollar events of $1billion, i.e. events that just made the NCEI loss modelling threshold, are generally excluded.
  20. GLIDE:
  21. PDD:
  22. Inflation Adjustments:
  23. Population Counts:
    a. U.S. Census Bureau
  24. Crop Indemnity Payments:
Information on NCEI (formerly NCDC) Storm Data Preparation
Directive NWSPD10-16 describes the National Weather Service's process in estimating losses from meteorological and hydrological events. Please download the directive HERE. See below some important estimation facts quoted directly from the guidance document:
  1. On fatalities and injuries: The determination of direct versus indirect causes of weather-related fatalities or injuries is one of the most difficult aspects of Storm Data preparation. Determining whether a fatality or injury was direct or indirect has to be examined on a case-by-case basis. It is impossible to include all possible cases in this Directive. The preparer should include the word "indirect" in all references to indirect fatalities or injuries in the event narrative.
  2. On loss estimation: Property damage estimates should be entered as actual dollar amounts, if a reasonably accurate estimate from an insurance company or other qualified individual is available. If this estimate is not available, then the preparer has two choices: either check the "no information available" box, or make an estimate. The exception is for flood events. The Storm Data preparer must enter monetary damage amounts for flood events, even if it is a "guesstimate." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requires the NWS to provide monetary damage amounts (property and/or crop) resulting from any flood event. The Storm Data preparer is encouraged to make a good faith attempt to obtain or estimate the damage. Property damage estimates are very important for many users and should be obtained if at all possible. Estimates can be obtained from emergency managers, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, power utility companies, and newspaper articles.[..] The Storm Data preparer should use the table in Appendix B entitled Property Damage Estimates in determining monetary losses. This table would allow the preparer to estimate monetary amounts for damaged objects when timely communication is not possible with emergency managers or insurance adjusters just prior to Storm Data submission. It is suggested that the Storm Data preparer, in conjunction with local emergency managers, insurance adjusters, utility company representatives, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, enhance the table to more accurately reflect values typically found in the local CWA. Typically, damage refers to damage inflicted to private property (structure s, objects, vegetation) as well as public infrastructure and facilities. [..] Crop damage information may be obtained from reliable sources, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the county/parish agricultural extension agent, the state department of agriculture, crop insurance agencies, or any other reliable authority. Crop damage amounts may be obtained from the USDA or other similar agencies.
  3. On Storm Data sources: Some information appearing in Storm Data may be provided by or gathered from sources outside the National Weather Service (NWS), such as the media, law enforcement and/or other government agencies, private companies, individuals, etc. An effort is made to use the best available information, but because of time and resource constraints, information from these sources may be unverified by the NWS. Accordingly, the NWS does not guarantee the accuracy or validity of the information.
Information on USDA's Indemnity Payments
Indemnity information dates back to January 1989 and is currently unavailable for any prior years. See below some important facts quoted directly from the USDA RMA website (http://www.rma.usda.gov/):
  1. On how the Federal crop insurance program works: Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) programs are administered by the Risk Management Agency (RMA), which underwrites crop insurance policies for hundreds of crops and livestock in the United States. Crop insurance policies are sold and serviced by private insurance companies. (..) RMA provides policies for more than 100 crops. (This number would be much higher if every insurance plan available for the crops insured in every county were counted.) RMA also conducts studies to determine the feasibility of insuring many other crops and is conducting pilot programs for some new crop policies in selected states and counties. Federal crop insurance policies typically consist of the Common Crop Insurance Policy, the specific crop provisions, and the policy endorsements and special provisions.
  2. On the indemnity amount: The total amount of the loss for the designated peril.

 5. SHELDUS Data Manipulation 

      1. Losses reported as a range and not exact dollar values.
        Whenever the original data source reports a loss estimate as a range, SHELDUS uses the lower bound of the range. For example, All NCEI (formerly NCDC) Storm Data estimates prior to 1994/95 were reported in logarithmic categories ($<50, $50-500, $500-5,000, $5,000-50,000, $50,000-500,000, $500,000-$5 Million, $5 Million-50 Million, $50 Million to 500 Million, $500 Million to 5 Billion). For example, for an event with a loss range of $5,000-$50,000, SHELDUS will return an event with a loss of $5,000.
      2. Losses for landslide events.
        Loss estimates were obtained from 2015 NWSI 10-1605 Storm Data, unless noted. If there was no basis for the loss amount, $99 was entered as the property loss, with a note saying the loss amounts were unknown.
        Category
        Type
        From
        To
        Based On/Source
        Trees
        Tree limb (large) downed
        $230
        $920
         
         
        Tree destroyed
        $575
        $1,725
         
         
        Tree on house w/o house damage
        $1,750
        $7,025
         
         
        Tree on house w/ house damage
        $3,500
        $8,630
         
        Power Lines
        Power lines downed
        $850
        $2,300
         
         
        Small transformers
        $1,150
        $3,450
         
         
        Regular size power pole cost
        $350
        $1,150
         
         
        Large power pole cost
        $850
        $1,725
         
         
        Labor cost for pole replacement
        $5,000
        $172,500
         
         
        Large transmission
        $46,000
        $92,075
         
        Roofs
        Minor roof damage repair
        $2,300
        $5,755
         
         
        Major roof damage (truss/roof replace)
        $17,250
        $34,000
         
         
        Damaged gutters/downspouts
        $115
        $345
         
         
        Replace brick chimney
        $2,300
        $5,750
         
        Buildings
        Awning damaged
        $285
        $1,150
         
         
        Window broken
        $230
        $1,150
         
         
        Covered porch destroyed
        $5,750
        $17,250
         
         
        Replace siding, one side average house
        $2,300
        $5,750
         
         
        1-car garage destroyed
        $6,900
        $17,250
         
         
        2-car garage destroyed
        $17,250
        $34,500
         
         
        House destroyed
        Value of house + belongings
         
        Use Zillow to estimate house value
         
        Mobile home destroyed
        $28,780
        $57,500
         
         
        Small shed destroyed
        $575
        $1,725
         
         
        Small pole barn destroyed
        $11,500
        $34,500
         
         
        Large pole barn destroyed
        $28,775
        $86,300
         
         
        House basement flooded (minor)
        $1,150
        $11,500
         
         
        House basement flooded (major)
        $11,500
        $28,775
         
         
        Electrical damage from lightning
        $2,875
        $8,630
         
         
        General house damage
        10% of house value
         
        Adjust to year
         
        Average foundation repair
        $3,772
        $10,000
        HomeAdvisor, 2015 dollars
        Vehicles
        Windshield replace
        $285
        $1,150
         
         
        Minor hail damage
        $1,150
        $3,450
         
         
        Major hail damage
        $2,875
        $17,250
         
         
        Car destroyed
        Value of car
         
        Adjust to year
         
        Semi-trailer overturned
        $8,630
        $17,250
         
         
        General car damage
        20% of car value
         
         
        Agriculture
        Crop damage
        Crop value/acre * acreage
         
         
         
        Small grain bin destroyed
        $8,630
        $17,250
         
         
        Large grain bin destroyed
        $23,015
        $57,500
         
         
        Cow killed
        $1,730
        $3,450
         
         
        Veal calf
        $50
        $75
         
         
        Center pivot irrigation system destroyed
        $28,775
        $57,500
         
         
        General yard damage
        $500
         
        Current year
        Infrastructure
        County road culvert washed out
        $2,875
        $57,500
         
         
        County bridge washed out
        $28,775
        $86,300
         
         
        State-federal bridge washed out
        $287,750
        $863,000
         
         
        General bridge damage
        $5,000
         
        Current year
         
        Paving cost
        $120,000/lane mile for 2-lane roads
        $502,000/lane mile for 4-lane roads
        Ohio DOT, 1998 dollars
         
        Guardrail
        $50/linear foot
         
        NASDAQ
         
        Concrete median barrier
        $43/ft; $226,180/mi
        $72/ft; $378,720/mi
        WSDOT, 2014 dollars
         
        Clay levee
        $4,000/ft
         
         
         
        Regular levee
        $60/ft
         
         
         
        Retaining wall
        $100/sq ft
         
        US DOT Federal Highway Administration
         
        Chain-link fence
        $3/ft
        $6/ft
        Cost Helper, 2009 dollars
         
      3. Losses output as per capita values.
        Economic losses (i.e. property and crop losses) are first adjusted for inflation to 2017$ and then divided by the current population of a county. Human losses (i.e. injuries and fatalities) are divided by the current population to arrive at per capita values.
        Note: For Rose Island, American Samoa (population: 0) and Northern Island, Commonwealth of the Northern Marian Islands (population: 0 since 2010), we assume a population of 1 to allow for per county capita calculations.
      4. Events reported for a region and not a singular county.
        SHELDUS distributes the losses for multi-county events equally across the involved counties - this applies also to injuries and fatalities. If there is detailed information on the location of fatalities and injuries, SHELDUS will reflect this and will not distribute the losses equally. For example, if hurricane damage of $1 million was reported for County A and County B together, SHELDUS will show a loss of $500,000 for County A as well as a loss of $500,000 for County B.
      5. Losses by NWS forecast zones and not by county name.
        SHELDUS resolves the forecast zone and translates it into county location. SHELDUS has recreated historic NWS forecast zone information and can accurately resolve forecast zones and changes in zone definitions and boundaries over time. If multiple counties belong to a forecast zone, losses will be distributed equally as outlined under #2.
      6. Losses reported for counties that no longer exist.
        SHELDUS georeferences losses according to the geography at the time of the event. SHELDUS has recreated changes in naming conventions and county zone boundaries. All losses that occurred in a historic county are marked with (*). The following historic counties exist in SHELDUS:
        County Name
        State
        FIPS
        Deletion Year
        *Princess Anne
        VA
        51810
        1963
        *Ormsby
        NV
        32510
        1969
        *Lynn Canal-Icy Straits
        AK
        02282
        1970
        *Palmer-Wasilla-Talkeetna
        AK
        02170
        1970
        *Nansemond
        VA
        51123
        1972
        *Washabaugh
        SD
        46131
        1979
        *Kuskokwim
        AK
        02160
        1980
        *Prince of Wales
        AK
        02200
        1980
        *Skagway-Yakutat
        AK
        02230
        1980
        *Seward
        AK
        02122
        1980
        *Valdez-Chitna-Whittier
        AK
        02260
        1980
        *Upper Yukon
        AK
        02250
        1980
        *Cordova-McCarthy
        AK
        02065
        1980
        *Ketchikan
        AK
        02130
        1980
        *Kenai-Cook Inlet
        AK
        02120
        1980
        *Barrow
        AK
        02040
        1980
        *Outer Ketchikan
        AK
        02190
        1980
        *Angoon
        AK
        02030
        1980
        *Kobuk
        AK
        02140
        1986
        *Aleutians Islands
        AK
        02013
        1987
        *Skagway-Yakutat-Angoon
        AK
        02231
        1992
        *South Boston
        VA
        51083
        1995
        *Dade
        FL
        12025
        1997
        *Yellowstone National Park
        MT
        30113
        1997
        *Clifton Forge
        VA
        51560
        2001
        *Skagway-Yakutat-Angoon
        AK
        02232
        2007
        *Prince of Wales-Outer Ketchikan
        AK
        02201
        2008
        *Wrangell-Petersburg
        AK
        02280
        2008
        *Bedford City
        VA
        51515
        2013
        *Shannon
        SD
        46113
        2015
        *Wade Hampton
        AK
        02270
        2015
        *Valdez Cordova
        AK
        02261
        2019
      7. Insured crop losses reported by month only.
        Whenever the original data source reports an indemnity payment by month only, SHELDUS assigns a time range spanning the entire month meaning the begin date of an event is reported as the first day of the month and the end date of the event is reported as the last day of the month.

 6. Aggregated Data Manipulation 

      1. Aggregation by Geography
        a. State
        All underlying raw data records within a state are summed. The returned loss information are state totals for property losses, crop losses, injuries, and fatalities.This information can be additionally broken down (a) by year (or month) to create annual (or monthly) state loss totals; and/or (b) by hazard type to create totals by hazard type for the state.
        b. County
        Losses are summed across all counties within a state and returned as county totals. All underlying raw data records within a county are summed. The returned loss information are county totals for property losses, crop losses, injuries, and fatalities. This information can be additionally broken down (a) by year (or month) to create annual (or monthly) county loss totals; and/or (b) by hazard type to create totals by hazard type for each county.
      2. Aggregation by Time
        a. Year
        All underlying raw data records within a year are summed. The returned loss information are yearly totals for property losses, crop losses, injuries, and fatalities. This information can be additionally broken down (a) by geography (state or county) to create annual state or county loss totals; and/or (b) by hazard type to create annual totals by hazard type.
        b. Month
        All underlying raw data records within a month are summed. The returned loss information are monthly totals for property losses, crop losses, injuries, and fatalities.This information can be additionally broken down (a) by geography (state or county) to create monthly state or county loss totals; and/or (b) by hazard type to create monthly totals by hazard type.
        c. Quarter
        All underlying raw data records within a quarter are summed. The returned loss information are quarterly totals for property losses, crop losses, injuries, and fatalities. This information can be additionally broken down (a) by geography (state or county) to create quarterly state or county loss totals; and/or (b) by hazard type to create quarterly totals by hazard type.
      3. Aggregation by Hazard Type
        All underlying raw data records are summed across the 18 hazard categories used in SHELDUS. In instances where a raw data event lists multiple hazard types as causal agents, the aggregation will distribute the losses equally among the involved hazards. This categorization of losses may produce hazard types that were not originally select in the database query.

 7. SHELDUS Version History

SHELDUS Version 22.0 (released 1/15/2024 with 965,785 direct loss records and 3,520,289 crop indemnity records): added direct loss estimates as well as crop insurance claims (indemnities) for 2022. Data updates were made for 2020 and 2021 as well as all earthquake events sourced from NCEI. Freely available data encompass all of Arizona (6,163 direct losses; 3,706 crop indemnities), South Carolina (19,672 direct losses; 40,403 crop indemnities), and all drought events nationwide (10,515 direct losses; 874,120 crop indemnities). 
SHELDUS Version 21.0 (released 2/15/2023 with 951,820 direct loss records and 2,909,147 crop indemnity records) : Added direct loss estimates as well as crop insurance claims (indemnities) for 2021. Data updates were made to 2018 through 2020. Freely available data encompass all of Arizona (5,613 direct losses; 2,090 crop indemnities) South Carolina (19,493 direct losses; 32,059 crop indemnities), and all drought events nationwide (10,361 direct losses; 844,816 crop indemnities). 
SHELDUS Version 20.0 (released 2/1/2022 with 938,781 direct loss records and 2,787,409 crop indemnity records) : Added direct loss estimates as well as crop insurance claims (indemnities) for 2020. Data updates were made to 2018 and 2019 as well. Freely available data encompass all of Arizona (5,189 direct losses; 1,803 crop indemnities) South Carolina (19,405 direct losses; 30,152 crop indemnities), and all drought events nationwide (10,154 direct losses; 805,581 crop indemnities). 
SHELDUS Version 19.0 (released 11/20/2020 with 925,847 direct loss records and 2,502,225 crop indemnity records): Added direct loss estimates as well as crop insurance claims (indemnities) for 2019. Direst losses added for all U.S. territories from 2000 through 2009. Freely available data encompass all of Arizona (4,884 direct losses; 1,610 crop indemnities) South Carolina (19,134 direct losses; 25,360 crop indemnities), and all drought events nationwide (9,749 direct losses; 782,216 crop indemnities). Data updates were made to prior years as well as a full update of NCEI/NCDC data for the time periods 2000 through 2009.
SHELDUS Version 18.1 (released 12/17/2019 with 911,261 direct loss records and 2,486,003 crop indemnity records): Added direct loss estimates as well as crop insurance claims (indemnities) for 2018. Direct losses added for all U.S. territories from 2010 through 2018. Freely available data encompass all of Arizona (4,638 direct losses; 1,565 crop indemnities) South Carolina (18,738 direct losses; 24,174 crop indemnities), and all drought events nationwide (11,242 direct losses; 771,105 crop indemnities). Data updates were made to prior years as well as a full update of NCEI/NCDC data for the time periods 2010 through 2017.
SHELDUS Version 18.0 (released 11/18/2019): VOID
SHELDUS Version 17.0 (released 11/8/2018 with 899,125 direct loss records and 2,446,608 crop indemnity records): Data corrections to events pre-2017.  Added direct loss estimates as well as crop insurance claims (indemnities) for 2017. Freely available data encompass South Carolina (18,827 direct losses), Arizona (4,295 direct losses) and all drought events nationwide (11,535 direct losses). Direct losses added for all U.S. territories for 2017.
SHELDUS Version 16.1 (released 5/4/2018): identical to 16.0., database moved to sheldus.asu.edu
SHELDUS Version 16.0 (released 11/1/2017 with 879,389 direct loss records and 2,405,597 crop indemnity records): Data corrections to events pre-2016.  Added direct loss estimates as well as crop insurance claims (indemnities) for 2016 (12,783 direct and 77,957 insured crop records). Freely available data records for South Carolina (18,624 direct losses, 23,198 insured crop losses) and drought events nationwide (11,205 direct and 725,139 insured crop losses). The logic for how SHELDUS records are associated with PDDs was changed from a manual to a relational approach using FEMA Open Data (PDD). Revised End User License Agreement with move to Arizona State University starting February 1, 2018.
SHELDUS Version 15.2 (released 11/17/2016 with 870,897 direct loss records and 2,561,882 crop indemnity records): Crop insurance claims (indemnities) paid by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) administered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency added for 1989 through 2015. All drought-related indemnity payments (704,307 records) were made freely available, which brings the freely available drought loss records up to 733,193 records.
SHELDUS Version 15.1 (released 10/6/2016 with 870,779 records): All drought-related records were made freely available. Correction of records without proper peril identification.
SHELDUS Version 15.0 (released 10/6/2016 with 834,804 records): Loss data added for the year 2015 plus data revisions for 1960 through 2014. Inclusion of landslide loss estimates. Added ability to search by peril class and aggregate by number of days with losses.
SHELDUS Version 14.1 (released 08/2015 with 857,543 records): All loss outputs (injury, fatality, crop, and property) were supplemented with per capita calculations.
The table below highlights the difference in data quality between versions 12 and 14. It shows the difference in the number of annual records as well as the difference in economic losses per year. Positive values indicate additions and negative values represent reductions in Version 14 compared to Version 12.
Year
Difference in Record Count (v12/14)
Difference in Total Losses (v12/14)
1960
0
-$79,319
1961
0
-$3,315,551
1962
0
-$166,361,449
1963
0
-$423,578
1964
0
-$107,002
1965
0
$2,794,542
1966
0
$1,826,655
1967
90
$1,063,093,499
1968
0
-$17,002
1969
0
-$19,349
1970
0
$6,325,146
1971
0
$402,522,806
1972
0
$22,465,369
1973
0
-$19,147,280
1974
0
-$4,185,706
1975
0
$1,514,450
1976
0
$1,040,131
1977
0
-$130,224
1978
57
$12,435,903
1979
0
-$978,262
1980
-27
$619,120,151
1981
0
-$72,271
1982
0
-$6,746,371
1983
0
$990,362
1984
0
-$1
1985
181
$43,316,758
1986
0
-$60,167
1987
45
-$1,091,679
1988
0
$827,141,826
1989
183
$89,915,365
1990
701
-$1,298,761,355
1991
646
-$29,177,654
1992
249
-$86,034,961
1993
4,693
$10,416,129,125
1994
7,505
$295,398,949
1995
2,351
$511,484,778
1996
1,307
$324,716,780
1997
343
-$86,486,272
1998
341
-$49,808,110
1999
117
-$4,267,030
2000
132
$28,370,519
2001
54
-$1,832,011
2002
1
$65,804
2003
286
$1,751,074,173
2004
23
$15,505,630
2005
0
-$545,540
2006
4
-$62,610,572
2007
2
$80,445,905
2008
-3,312
-$8,586,933
2009
5,169
$2,045,275
2010
-1,021
$2,749,952,912
2011
-4,011
-$3,119
2012
3,164
$285,683,824
2013
16,051
$13,454,507,759
2014
15,626
$649,113,890
SHELDUS Version 14.0 (released 07/2015): Loss data added for the year 2014 plus data revisions for 1960 through 2013.
SHELDUS Version 13.1 (released 09/2014 with 831,182 records): SHELDUS launched as for-pay service. Data aggregation option added to standard raw data download. Significant data corrections to losses that occurred in 1990s.
SHELDUS Version 13.0 (released 06/2014): Loss data added for the year 2013. All data for 2010, 2011, and 2012 were re-imported to correct for inconsistencies in forecast zone-county associations. Significant data corrections to losses that occurred in 1990s.
SHELDUS Version 12.0 (released 08/2013 with 809,990 records): Renaming of version 10.1 to version 12.0
SHELDUS Version 11.0 (not released): Version 11 skipped to make version number consistent with most current year of loss data available in SHELDUS.
SHELDUS Version 10.1 (released 08/2013): Loss data added for the year 2012.
SHELDUS Version 10.0 (released 08/2012): Loss data added for the year 2011. Loss threshold of $50,000 removed and all events added that caused any property/crop damage, injuries, or fatalities between 1985 and 1989. SHELDUS 10.0 contained every loss causing event between 1960 and 1989 and from 1995 onward as reported by SHELDUS data sources. Between 1990 and 1995, SHELDUS contains only events that caused at least one fatality or more than $50,000 in property or crop damage.
SHELDUS Version 9.0 (released 11/2011): Loss data added for the year 2010. Loss threshold of $50,000 removed and all events added that caused any property/crop damage, injuries, or fatalities between 1980 and 1984. SHELDUS 9.0 contained every loss causing event between 1960 and 1984 and from 1995 onward as reported by SHELDUS data sources. Between 1985 and 1995, SHELDUS contains only events that caused at least one fatality or more than $50,000 in property or crop damage.
SHELDUS Version 8.0 (released 09/2010 with 645,537 records): Loss data added for the year 2009. Loss threshold of $50,000 removed and all events added that caused any property/crop damage, injuries, or fatalities between 1975 and 1979. SHELDUS 8.0 contained every loss causing event between 1960 and 1979 and from 1995 onward as reported by SHELDUS data sources. Between 1980 and 1995, SHELDUS contains only events that caused at least one fatality or more than $50,000 in property or crop damage.
SHELDUS Version 7.0 (released 08/2009): Loss data added for the year 2008. Loss threshold of $50,000 removed and all events added that caused any property/crop damage, injuries, or fatalities between 1960 and 1974. SHELDUS 7.0 contained every loss causing event between 1960 and 1974 and from 1995 onward as reported by SHELDUS data sources. Between 1975 and 1995, SHELDUS contains only events that caused at least one fatality or more than $50,000 in property or crop damage.
SHELDUS Version 6.2 (released 08/2008): Loss data added for the year 2007. Events added from 1960 to present that caused at least one or more fatalities even when the crop or property loss was below $50,000. Events without any human loss were only included when the property or crop losses reached at least $50,000.
SHELDUS Version 6.1 (released 08/2007): Loss data added for the year 2006.
SHELDUS Version 5.1 (released 02/2007): Loss data added for the year 2005. Complete revision of the year 1990. Matching of SHELDUS records to presidential disaster declarations (PDDs), GLIDE numbers, and named major disasters.
SHELDUS Version 4.1 (released 02/2006): Loss data added for August 1, 2004 through May 31, 2005.
SHELDUS Version 3.1 (released 03/2005): Loss data added for January 1, 2001 through July 31, 2004.
SHELDUS Version 2.1 (released 10/2004): Revision of tornado losses from 1960 through 1993 and 1995. Version 2.0 incorrectly overestimated property damage (tenfold) and underestimated crop damage.
SHELDUS Version 2.0 and below (prior to 10/2004): For events that occurred between 1990 and 1995, a loss threshold of $50,000 or higher in either property or crop losses was applied. This threshold equals NCDC's logarithmic category 1 = $5,000 to $50,000). From 1995 onwards, SHELDUS includes all property or crop damage-causing events reported in NCDC's Storm Data publications. This change in methodology was necessary, since the main source of raw data - the National Climate Date Center (NCDC) - changed its reporting procedures in 1995. During this year both categorical as well as exact dollar losses were reported by NCDC. Thus, the majority of records from 1995 onwards are exact damage figures that have been reported as such by NCDC and that have not undergone any post-processing by SHELDUS (exemption loss distribution of events affecting multiple counties). Additionally, NCDC also improved its spatial reporting system. Instead of reporting affected regions and distributing losses across the affected counties, NCDC moved to reporting losses on a county basis. Thus from 1995-2011, SHELDUS includes EVERY event that caused property or crop damage as reported by NCDC.

 8. How to Reference SHELDUS

CEMHS, 2024. Spatial Hazard Events and Losses Database for the United States, Version 22.0. [Online Database]. Phoenix, AZ: Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Arizona State University.

 9. Contact Information

Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security
Arizona State University
411 N Central Ave
Mail Code 4020
Phoenix, AZ 85004
USA
email: sheldus@asu.edu
Phone: +1-602-496-1040

 10. End-User License Agreement, Data Sharing and Publication Restrictions

 11. Download Metadata as PDF

 
The information contained in the PDF is identical to the information provided on this site.