Pre-engineering water-risk intelligence

Watch the water rise.

Type an address. Freshet pulls the six federal datasets that govern its flood risk, runs standard civil-engineering methods over them, and returns a sourced 1–10 screening score — with a Pre-Engineering Brief to back it up.

scroll to take the reading ↓
6
federal sources
3
engineering methods on every screening
<1min
first-time screening
1–10
composite score
readings acquired
FEMA NFHL
Zone AE · BFE 54.0 ft
USGS gauge record
Q100 24,300 cfs
NOAA Atlas 14
13.5 in / 24-hr
USGS 3DEP
−4.3 ft freeboard
USACE NID
Addicks 6.2 mi
USGS NWIS
gauge 08074500
low
elevated
high
0.0
Floodplain8.4·40%
Terrain8.8·15%
Hydrologic6.2·30%
Infrastructure5.6·15%
staff gauge · scr_8f3a91c2datum · ground 49.7 ft
Reading 01 · set datum

Set the datum.

The gauge is anchored to 6001 Memorial Dr — parcel matched, referenced to its contributing watershed, Buffalo Bayou, HUC 12040104. Ground elevation 49.7 ft. The staff reads zero.

29.7766, −95.4172 · Harris County
Reading 02 · acquire

Six readings come in.

FEMA, USGS, NOAA and the Army Corps report in parallel. The finished floor sits 4.3 ft below the base flood elevation — the first mark on the staff. Every reading keeps its source.

FEMA · USGS · NOAA · USACE
Reading 03 · weigh

Four dimensions raise the level.

Each weighted dimension marks the staff — Terrain 8.8 and Floodplain 8.4 sit high in the red; Hydrologic 6.2 and Infrastructure 5.6 hold the middle. The waterline rises between them.

weighted mean → composite level
Reading 04 · flood stage

The waterline crosses into flood stage.

The level settles at 7 / 10 — over the high-water line. Tier: High · PE escalation recommended. A pre-engineering brief is issued at the mark.

high 7–10 · standard rates do not apply
Interactive demo

Try it yourself.

Pick one of three real screenings and replay it start to finish — including the Dallas parcel that looks safe on the FEMA map and isn’t.

Launch the interactive demo sample data · no account needed
The data · six federal sources

Every value traces to a federal source.

These six datasets are queried live for every screening, and each number keeps the endpoint and timestamp it came from — so any figure in the file can be defended later.

01
FEMA NFHL
hazards.fema.gov
Zone AE · BFE 54.0 ft
Flood zone, base flood elevation, levee systems, and map-revision history.
02
USGS NLDI
api.water.usgs.gov
basin 88.4 mi²
Watershed delineation and drainage-area statistics for the parcel.
03
NOAA Atlas 14
hdsc.nws.noaa.gov
13.5 in / 24-hr
Precipitation-frequency grids for the design storms.
04
USGS 3DEP
epqs.nationalmap.gov
ground 49.7 ft · 1 m LiDAR
Bare-earth terrain: elevation, local relief, slope, depressions.
05
USACE NID
nid.sec.usace.army.mil
Addicks · 6.2 mi · high hazard
Upstream dam inventory and hazard classification.
06
USGS NWIS
waterservices.usgs.gov
gauge 08074500 · 41-yr
Stream-gauge records: live stage and the peak-flow history the models run on.
The methodology · six engineering methods

Standard civil-engineering methods, fully traced.

The same methods a licensed engineer would apply by hand, run automatically on your parcel’s data — with every intermediate result open for inspection.

01Rational methodPeak runoff from the contributing areaASCE practice
02SCS Curve NumberRunoff depth from soil and coverUSDA TR-55
03Manning's normal depthChannel conveyance capacityopen-channel hydraulics
04Log-Pearson Type IIIFlood-frequency analysis of the gauge recordUSGS Bulletin 17C
05Froehlich dam-breachPeak outflow from an upstream breachFroehlich (1995)
06HEC-18 pier scourLocal scour at crossingsFHWA HEC-18
How it works

Address in, score out — in under a minute. Brief on demand.

01

Enter an address

The address is geocoded, matched to its parcel, and tied to the watershed that drains to it.

~2 s
02

Acquire

All six federal sources are queried at once, and every value keeps a record of where it came from.

~8 s
03

Model

The engineering methods run on that data and roll up into four weighted risk dimensions.

~30 s
04

Score & brief

You get a single 1–10 screening score with every input sourced, plus a Pre-Engineering Brief you can generate on demand (~30 s).

on demand

Screening a whole pipeline? Upload a CSV and Freshet works through up to 100 addresses, flags the risky ones, and returns a one-page summary you can forward as-is.

The output · pre-engineering brief

A defensible score and an RFP-ready scope.

The score is never a black-box number — it breaks down into four weighted dimensions and a list of findings, each one tied to the source it came from.

composite water risk · 6001 Memorial Dr
7/10
High · PE escalation
Floodplain · 40%8.4
Hydrologic · 30%6.2
Terrain · 15%8.8
Infrastructure · 15%5.6
key findings · illustrative sample
Mapped in FEMA Zone AE — 1% annual-chance floodplain, BFE 54.0 ft. [FEMA NFHL]
Ground 49.7 ft, 4.3 ft below BFE — flat, 0.4% slope, no local depression. [USGS 3DEP]
100-yr peak at nearest gauge 24,300 cfs — Log-Pearson III on the gauge record. [LP-III · USGS NWIS]
High-hazard dam within 16 km — Addicks Reservoir Dam; breach peak estimated, path not modeled. [USACE NID]
Proof

Built for people who defend their numbers.

6
federal sources per screening
3
engineering methods run on every screening
~45s
median screening time
100
addresses per portfolio scan

“The free FEMA map is often fifteen years out of date, and a real engineering study costs $30K and takes weeks. Freshet sits between the two: it tells you, in under a minute, whether that study is worth commissioning at all.”

— the Freshet team
Pricing

Screening that scales with your pipeline.

Pay as you go
Screen
$99/property
A single screening with the full source trail and a Pre-Engineering Brief you can hand to a lender. No subscription.
Request access
Most teams
Operator
$499/mo
Twenty-five full screenings and 200 portfolio-scan rows a month, with the brief generator and a send-for-quote path when you want an engineer's study.
Request access
Bulk & API
Carrier API
$0.75/screen
Score, flags, and source data as JSON at underwriting volume — 500-screen monthly minimum. Briefs stay with Operator and Enterprise.
Talk to us
Large teams
Enterprise
Custom
Screenings and API volume together, audit export, dedicated support, and terms built around your book.
Contact sales
a full screening includes the interactive result and the Pre-Engineering Brief · scan rows and API screens return score, flags, and source data
introductory pricing — self-serve billing is on the way; request access to start today
Security & compliance

Auditable by design.

Nothing in a screening depends on data you couldn’t go verify yourself.

01
Federal sources only

Every input is a citable public dataset — no scraped or proprietary black-box data.

02
Full source trail

Each value carries its endpoint and timestamp, exportable for the file.

03
Encrypted in transit & at rest

TLS 1.2+ and AES-256. Keys and secrets stay server-side — never exposed to the browser.

04
Not an engineering firm

Freshet screens and documents; it does not perform or seal engineering studies. When a screening needs one, you engage a licensed engineer and start them from the sourced brief.

FAQ

Questions engineers ask first.

QIs this a sealed engineering study?
No. Freshet is the screening step before one — it flags the risk and writes the scope of work, and a licensed engineer performs and seals whatever study follows.
QHow current is the federal data?
Sources are queried live at screening time. Every value in the file shows the endpoint it came from and when it was pulled.
QWhat areas can I screen?
Anywhere the six federal datasets reach — effectively the contiguous United States. If a source comes back degraded, the brief says so instead of quietly dropping it.
QCan I screen a whole portfolio?
Yes. Upload a CSV of up to 100 addresses — every property gets screened and flagged, with a one-page summary PDF and a shareable link per row. Rows draw from your plan’s monthly scan-row allowance.
QHow does escalation to a PE work?
When a screening lands high you can send it for a quote from the brief page. Today that request goes to the Freshet team and follow-up is manual — there is no automated engineer network yet. The brief carries the complete source trail so whichever licensed engineer you engage starts from evidence rather than zero.

Take a reading on every parcel you hold.

Request access Try the demo
Pre-engineering intelligence · not a substitute for a sealed engineering study.