6: AOP Hazard Mitigation & Resiliency Planning Flashcards
Hazard Mitigation
Defined by FEMA as: “any action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards.”
Wildland fire defensible space
Area around a home or other structure that has been modified to reduce fire hazards. In this area, natural and manmade fuels are treated, cleared, or reduced to slow the spread of wildfire.
Reconstruction Following Disaster
Haas, Kates, and Bowden - 1977.
Divides disaster into 4 overlapping phases of response & recovery.
- The emergency period covers the initial hours or days following the disaster when the community is forced to cope with losses in lives and property.
- The restoration period covers the time following the emergency period until major urban service and transportation are restored, evacuees returned, and rubble is removed.
- During the replacement reconstruction period, the city rebuilds capital stock to pre-disaster levels and social and economic activities return to their previous levels.
- Finally, in the commemorative, betterment, and developmental reconstruction period, major reconstruction activities take place and future growth and development begin to take hold.
Adaptation
Adjustment of human and natural systems in response to actual or expected effects of climate change
Major Disaster
Defined as-
“any natural catastrophe (including any hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunamis,
earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, or drought), or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion, in any part of the United States, which in the determination of the president causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance under the Stafford Disaster Relief Act.”
Stafford Disaster Relief Act - Emergency Definition
Defines emergency as “any occasion or instance for which, in the determination of the president, Federal assistance is needed to supplement State and local efforts and capabilities to save lives and protect property and public health and safety, or lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in any part of the United States.”
Hazard mitigation
Includes the actions taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to life and property from natural hazards.
Safe Growth
Term for building environments that are safe for current and future generations - protecting buildings, infrastructure, and the natural environment from damage.
Resilience
Refers to ability of a community to return to its original form after it has been changed. Resiliency used to refer to community’s ability to recover from a natural hazard, economic shock, or other major events.
Example = modifying design & building standards to make more resilient communities.
Substantial Damage
Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before-damage condition would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value or replacement cost of the structure before the damage occurred.
Substantial Improvement
Any reconstruction, rehabilitation addition, or other improvements of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement.
Major Federal Legislation Related to Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery
1950 Federal Disaster Relief Act
1966 Disaster Relief Act of 1966
1968 National Flood Insurance Act
1969 Disaster Relief Act of 1969
1970 Disaster Assistance Act of 1970
1973 Flood Disaster Protection Act
1974 Disaster Relief Act of 1974
1977 Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act
1979 Creation of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
1988 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
1994 National Flood Insurance Reform Act
2000 Disaster Mitigation Act
1988 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act & steps to undertake:
This act constitutes the authority of the federal government, FEMA, to respond to a disaster.
The Stafford Act outlines four primary components hazard mitigation plan:
1. An evaluation of the natural hazard in the designated area
2. A description and analysis of the state and local hazard management policies, programs, and capabilities to mitigate the hazards in the area
3. Hazard mitigation goals and objectives and proposed strategies, programs, and actions to reduce or avoid long-term vulnerability to hazards
4. A method of implementing monitoring, evaluating, and updating the mitigation plan; such evaluation is to occur at least on an annual basis to ensure that implementation occurs as planned, and ensure that the plan remains current
Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000
Requires local governments to prepare and adopt hazard mitigation plans.
This act focuses on prevention.
After the act passed, emergency managers began using a more proactive planning process. Leading their communities through that process resulted in FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plans. Plans are required to receive certain types of FEMA assistance.
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
1994- established.
Program’s community rating system (CRS) = voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements.
Under floodplain management-planning category communities received points for:
Involving the public
Coordinating with other agencies
Assessing the hazard
Assessing the problem
Setting goals
Reviewing possible activities
Drafting an action plan
Adopting the plan and implementing, evaluating, and revising the plan
