# **Session No. 37**

## Course Title: Coastal Hazards Management

## Session Title: Hazard Mitigation Planning I

## Author: Anna K. Schwab, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

**Time: 50 minutes**

**Objectives:**

> **37.1** Become familiar with the hazard mitigation planning
> provisions of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000.

**37.2** Discuss the benefits of hazard mitigation planning.

**37.3** Overview of the mitigation planning process.

> **37.4** Become familiar with the first step in the mitigation
> planning process: "Identify Potential Natural Hazards."

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**Scope:**

During the next few sessions, the Instructor will generate class
discussions about hazard mitigation planning as mean of decreasing the
vulnerability of coastal communities. The Mitigation Planning sessions
will be very participatory. A short introductory lecture about the basic
concepts will be augmented by in-class exercises and student
presentations that will take students through the mitigation planning
process.

The planning exercises used in these sessions are based on workshops
conducted by the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management (NCEM)
to assist local governments prepare hazard mitigation plans as required
under the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. The major reading assignment
for these sessions -- *Keeping Natural Hazards from Becoming Disasters:
A Mitigation Planning Guidebook for Local Governments* \-- was prepared
by NCEM for use during these workshops. The *Guidebook* was prepared for
a wide range of users, from certified planners working in large
municipalities with vast resources at their disposal, to non-planners,
including emergency management personnel, town clerks, county managers,
and other local employees that may not necessarily have a planning
background. While the *Guidebook* was not designed specifically for use
in coastal areas, the basic procedures and techniques are applicable to
most types of hazard-prone locations.

Many of the exercises to be conducted during the mitigation planning
sessions will involve the creation of maps. Basic instructions for
preparing these maps are included in the *Guidebook*, along with some
sample maps. Depending upon the level of expertise of the students
and/or time constraints, the Instructor may wish to require either more
sophisticated or simplified versions of the mapping steps for student
presentations. Whether the maps are created using Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) or pencil and paper is not critical; The objective to be
learned is the role that maps play in the planning process, that of
graphically illustrating hazard conditions.

The first of the Mitigation Planning sessions, No. 37, serves as an
introduction and overview of the concept of mitigation planning. The
Instructor should select a coastal locality that will be used to
illustrate the planning process. Session 37 also includes a discussion
of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000's planning requirements for state
and local governments. The Instructor will then give a brief lecture on
the first step in the planning process, "Identify Potential Natural
Hazards."

Session No. 38 begins with student presentations on the planning step
introduced in Session 37, "Identify Potential Natural Hazards." The
Instructor will then lecture on the Step Two of the planning process:
"Assess Hazard Vulnerability."

Session No. 39 begins with student presentations on "Assess Hazard
Vulnerability." The Instructor will then lecture on the Step Three of
the planning process: "Assess Community Capability."

Session No. 40 begins with student presentations on "Assess Community
Capability." The Instructor will then lecture on the Step Four in the
planning process: "Form Interim Conclusions" and Step Five "Establish
Values and Goals."

Session No. 41 consists of a classroom debate regarding "Formulating
Interim Conclusions" and an in-class group exercise on "Establishing
Values and Goals." The Instructor will then lecture on Step Six of the
planning process: "Formulate Mitigation Policies."

Session No. 42 begins with student presentations on "Formulate
Mitigation Policies." The Instructor will then lecture on Step Seven
"Establish Procedures for Monitoring, Evaluating, and Reporting
Progress," Step Eight "Establish Procedures for Revisions and Updates"
and Step Nine "Adoption."

Session No. 43 begins with student presentations on "Monitoring,
Evaluating and Reporting Progress," "Revisions and Updates" and
"Adoption." The Instructor will then lecture and lead a class discussion
summarizing the entire planning process, and its applicability to
mitigation of coastal hazard impacts.

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**Supplemental Considerations:**

The sessions on planning focus primarily on hazard mitigation plans that
are prepared as distinct, free-standing plans. Many local communities
prepare such stand-alone plans as a prerequisite for receipt of federal
hazard mitigation funds. However, there are many other ways to develop
local mitigation plans. Some communities incorporate a hazard mitigation
element into their local land use or comprehensive plan. Other
communities tie the mitigation plan to the local emergency operations
plan. Some jurisdictions may include other hazard elements to the local
floodplain management plan (if multiple types of hazards are present in
that locality). There is no one right way to prepare a mitigation plan
-- the important thing is that the mitigation plan serves to guide
development decisions so that vulnerability to natural hazards is
reduced.

The planning sessions in this course focus primarily on hazard
mitigation planning at the local level. It is important to remember that
states are also required to prepare plans under the Disaster Mitigation
Act of 2000. While additional factors must be considered when preparing
a state-wide plan, the essential concepts and many of the actual
planning steps are identical whether the plan is prepared at the state
or local level. Some states rely heavily on plans made by local
jurisdictions when assembling the state plan, particularly for hazard
assessment and mitigation strategy formulation. In fact, the DMA 2000
requires a certain level of integration of local plans for state plan
approval.

Note, too, that the *Guidebook* provides instructions to assist local
communities that wish to prepare a plan that fulfills the criteria for
multiple programs, particularly the Community Rating System (CRS). The
lecture material found in this course will not dwell on the particulars
of meeting CRS planning requirements; however, the reading materials
will cover these requirements in a fair amount of detail.

**Readings:**

*Student and Instructor Reading*:

NC Division of Emergency Management, Hazard Mitigation Section, Risk
Assessment and Planning Branch. May, 2003. *Keeping Natural Hazards From
Becoming Disasters: A Mitigation Planning Guidebook for Local
Governments*, pp. 1-21. (Available in pdf format from NC Division of
Emergency Management:
<http://www.dem.dcc.state.nc.us/mitigation/planning_publications.htm>)

Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-390) and attendant regulations
(Interim Final Rule 44 CFR Parts 201 and 206).

> \<frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=106_cong_public_laws&docid=f.publ390.106\>

FEMA. September 2002. *Getting Started: Building Support for Mitigation
Planning.* Washington, D.C.: FEMA 386-1. Available from FEMA
publications warehouse: (800) 480-2520

FEMA. August 2001. *Understanding Your Risks: Identifying Hazards and
Estimating Losses*. Washington, D.C.: FEMA 386-2, pp.viii through xi,
"Forward" and "Introduction;" pp. 1-1 through 1-13, "identify hazards;"
pp. 2-1 through 2-31 "profile hazard events."

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# **PowerPoint Slides**

**PowerPoint 37.1** Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA2000)

**PowerPoint 37.2** DMA2000 Section 322

**PowerPoint 37.3** State Hazard Mitigation Plans

**PowerPoint 37.4** Benefits of Hazard Mitigation Planning

**PowerPoint 37.5** Organize to Prepare the Plan

**PowerPoint 37.6** Mitigation Planning Tree

**PowerPoint 37.7** Steps in the Planning Process

**PowerPoint 37.8** Identify Potential Natural Hazards: What is the
Community's Problem?

**PowerPoint 37.9** Worksheet #1: Hazard Identification and Analysis

**PowerPoint 37.10** Likelihood of Occurrence

**PowerPoint 37.11** Measures of Hazard Intensity

**PowerPoint 37.12** Hazard Impact

**PowerPoint 37.13** Sources of Data

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**General Requirements:**

Session 37 should be presented as lecture, supplemented by PowerPoint
slides. At the end of Session 37, the Instructor will divide the class
into groups and make assignments for presentations to be made on each of
the main steps in the planning process.

During sessions 38 through 43, students will make presentations for the
first 30 minutes of class on the topic introduced in the previous
session. The Instructor will then give a brief lecture, supplemented by
PowerPoint slides to introduce the concepts that will be covered by
student presentations in the following session.

The Instructor should choose a coastal community (either a county or
municipality) on which to base the student activities. Preferably, the
community chosen as the model should be nearby or one with which the
students are familiar. Students will be expected to gather data
regarding natural hazards, past disasters, development patterns, local
land use policies, maps and other pertinent information in order to
carry out the mitigation planning steps and to prepare their
presentations. As an alternative, students may create hypothetical
"data" for the coastal community chosen. The point is for the students
to learn about the tasks involved in preparing a local hazard mitigation
plan.

Assignments for group presentations are as follows:

Group 1 (to be presented during Session No. 38):

Step 1: "Identify Potential Natural Hazards"

Group 2 (to be presented during Session No. 39):

Step 2: "Assess Vulnerability"

Group 3 (to be presented during Session No. 40)

Step 3: "Assess Community Capability"

Class Debate and Discussion during Session No. 41:

Step 4: "Form Interim Conclusions"

Step 5: "Establish Values and Goals"

Group 4 (to be presented during Session No. 42)

Step 6: "Formulate Mitigation Policies"

Group 5 (to be presented during Session No. 43)

> Step 7: "Establish Procedures for Monitoring, Evaluating, and
> Reporting Progress"

Step 8: "Establish Procedures for Revisions and Updates"

Step 9: "Adoption"

The instructions for the student presentations are listed in Handout
37.1, available for copying and distribution to the students. The
handout can be found in Appendix A.

It is important that the students perform each of the steps in the
planning process, although each group will be responsible for preparing
a class presentation for only one of the steps. The nine steps of the
planning process that are described in the *Guidebook* are designed to
be followed sequentially. Each step builds on work performed in the
previous steps, and the students must go through each step in order to
comprehend the planning process in its entirety. Every group should be
prepared to critique, pose questions, and summarize its own version of
the planning step(s) being presented during each of the mitigation
planning sessions.

**Objective 37.1** **Become familiar with the hazard mitigation planning
provisions of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000**.

**Requirements:**

The content should be presented as lecture, supported by PowerPoint
slides.

The following slides will be used during this objective:

**PowerPoint 37.1** Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA2000)

**PowerPoint 37.2** DMA2000 Section 322

**PowerPoint 37.3** State Hazard Mitigation Plans

**Remarks:**

### Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000

> **\[PowerPoint 37.1** Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA2000)\]

-   On **October 30, 2000**, the President of the United States signed
    into law the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA2000) to **amend
    the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act
    of 1988**.

-   This legislation reinforces the importance of **pre-disaster
    mitigation planning** to reduce the Nation's disaster losses, and is
    aimed primarily to control and streamline the administration of
    federal disaster relief and mitigation programs.

-   The Federal Emergency Management Agency (**FEMA**) is responsible
    for administering the DMA2000. FEMA issues regulations and
    guidelines to implement the provisions of the Act.

> **\[PowerPoint 37.2** DMA2000 Section 322\]

-   **Section 322** provides a new and revitalized approach to
    mitigation planning by specifically doing the following:

    -   Establishes a new requirement for local and tribal mitigation
        plans;

    -   Authorizes up to 7% of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
        (HMGP) funds available to a state to be used for development of
        state, local and tribal mitigation plans; and

    -   Provides for states to receive an increased percentage of HMGP
        disaster funds (from 7.5% to 20%) if, at the time of the
        declaration of a major disaster, they have in effect an approved
        State Mitigation Plan that meets the factors in the law.

> **\[PowerPoint 37.3** State Hazard Mitigation Plans\]

-   Under the DMA2000, **state hazard mitigation plans** are expected to
    outline processes to:

1.  Identify the natural hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities of areas in
    the state;

2.  Support development of local mitigation plans;

3.  Provide for technical assistance to local and tribal governments for
    mitigation planning; and

4.  Identify and prioritize mitigation actions that the state will
    support, as resources become available.

-   States may develop a **Standard Plan**, which allows them to receive
    7.5% of federal Stafford Act disaster expenditures, or an **Enhanced
    Plan**, which allows them to receive greater funding (20%) for
    hazard mitigation planning and projects.

-   An approved 322 Plan is **required** for eligibility to receive
    funds from the **Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program** (PDM) and the
    **Flood Mitigation Assistance Program** (FMA), both available
    annually to state and local governments.

-   **Without an approved 322 plan**, states, and all eligible local
    jurisdictions, would be **ineligible to receive a variety of
    disaster recovery programs**, including the Public Assistance
    Program to repair or replace damaged public facilities, and the Fire
    Management Assistance Program to help the state and communities
    recover the costs of fighting major wildland fires.

    -   However, the state and local communities would remain eligible
        for certain emergency assistance and Human Services programs
        available through the Stafford Act.

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-   Clearly, Section 322 of the DMA2000 places greater emphasis on state
    and local mitigation planning, further moving federal disaster
    assistance from the traditional, reactive, disaster-based formula to
    a proactive, pre-disaster approach.

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**Objective 37.2 Discuss the benefits of hazard mitigation planning.**

**Requirements:**

The content should be presented as lecture, supported by PowerPoint
slides.

The following slide will be used during this objective:

## PowerPoint 37.4 Benefits of Hazard Mitigation Planning

**Remarks:**

**[Why Prepare a Hazard Mitigation Plan?]{.underline}**

-   Mitigation plans, especially those that are prepared well in advance
    of a hazard event, can help a state or local government **avoid the
    ad-hoc approach** to mitigation that occurs when individual projects
    are carried out in isolation from each other or from other state and
    local activities.

-   By providing an overall context for mitigation, a mitigation plan
    can help to **articulate a vision** of what the state or local
    community wants to look like in the future. The plan can establish
    goals, objectives, policies, and strategies for attaining that
    vision in a thoughtful and methodical way.

-   In this way, the mitigation plan can serve to **educate the public**
    and to **guide policy makers** so that decisions regarding
    development, growth, and infrastructure are made with an eye towards
    reducing vulnerability to natural hazards. Such informed
    decision-making is more likely to increase the resiliency of the
    state or community as a whole.

-   Another pragmatic reason for preparing a mitigation plan appears in
    the **DMA2000** itself: state and local governments must have a
    mitigation plan that meets FEMA's approval in order to be eligible
    for certain federal disaster recovery program funds.

-   Mitigation plans are required for or facilitate access to many
    government programs, such as:

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-   Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP

-   Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA)

-   Public Assistance Program

-   Small Business Administration Disaster Assistance Program

-   Community Development Block Grant Program

-   National Hurricane Program

-   National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program

-   Community Rating System (CRS)

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-   Hazard mitigation plans may also partially fulfill requirements
    under various **state programs that mandate local plans** for land
    use, growth management, or coastal management.

    -   *For example*, the **North Carolina Coastal Area Management
        Act** (CAMA) requires coastal counties to prepare a local land
        use plan, a section of which must address natural hazard issues.

    -   *For example*, the **Washington State** **Growth Management
        Act** requires all cities, towns and counties in the State to
        identify and protect the function and values of critical areas,
        which include areas that are frequently flooded, geologically
        hazardous areas, fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas,
        wetlands, and recharge areas for aquifers used for potable
        water.

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**Objective 37.3 Overview of the mitigation planning process**.

**Requirements:**

The content should be presented as lecture, supported by PowerPoint
slides.

The following slides will be used during this objective:

**PowerPoint 37.5** Organizing to Prepare the Plan

**PowerPoint 37.6** Mitigation Planning Tree

**PowerPoint 37.7** Steps in the Planning Process

**Remarks:**

Here are a few remarks regarding our main reading assignment:

Keeping Natural Hazards From Becoming Disasters: A Mitigation Planning
Guidebook for Local Governments

-   The material that has been assigned as class reading was developed
    by the State of North Carolina as a form of technical support to
    local governments for preparing local hazard mitigation plans, as
    required under Section 322 of the DMA2000. The materials, therefore,
    are slanted towards planning at the local level. **The process
    itself, however, is applicable to both state and local mitigation
    planning.**

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-   The guidebook includes sample maps, worksheets, and step-by-step
    instructions for developing a local hazard mitigation plan. The
    guidebook also includes suggestions for sources of the information
    and data that is needed for each planning step.

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-   We will be using the guidebook to go through the mitigation planning
    process for a nearby coastal community: \[insert name of selected
    coastal community\]. Students will be making group presentations on
    the planning steps as described in the Guidebook.

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-   The students are encouraged to use the worksheets and sample maps
    for their own presentations. Data can be real data gathered for the
    selected community, or hypothetical data of the type that would be
    found for that community if students had the time and resources to
    devote to data gathering.

#### Organize to Prepare the Plan

> **\[PowerPoint 37.5 Organize to Prepare the Plan\]**

-   **Marshalling Resources**: Before embarking on the planning process
    itself, the community must identify and gather the resources
    necessary to carry out all the steps involved.

    -   Who will be **responsible for the plan**?

        -   Some communities rely on professional **consultants** to
            prepare the plan

        -   A **local official, employee, or citizen** must be
            ultimately in charge

    -   Many communities establish an **advisory committee** or task
        force to meet regularly and oversee the mitigation planning
        process.

    -   It is also important to **coordinate with other agencies**
        within the local government, and with other jurisdictions. This
        is particularly important if the plan is to be a
        **multi-jurisdictional plan**, that is, one that covers all the
        local governments in a county or region.

-   **Key Stakeholders**: It is also important to involve key
    stakeholders at the very beginning of the planning process.

    -   These may include residents of the community that will be
        affected by mitigation policies and activities, homeowners and
        business owners that have been impacted by past disasters,
        developers or major employers in the area, neighborhood groups,
        community leaders, among others.

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-   **Public Participation**: Regulations of the DMA2000 specify a
    minimum level of public participation in the planning process.
    Public meetings, workshops, informational presentations, resident
    mailings and other forms of communication are often effective ways
    to solicit citizen participation.

-   **Documentation:** The planning process, including efforts to engage
    the public, must be documented fully in order to meet FEMA planning
    criteria.

# **[The "Mitigation Planning Tree"]{.underline}**

**\[PowerPoint 37.6** Mitigation Planning Tree\]

-   The planning process can be likened to a tree. The **tree analogy**
    emphasizes the **interrelations** among each planning step and the
    **dynamism** of the final plan. Each of the steps in the process is
    designed to be supported by the previous step, and in turn, provides
    support for the next.

**\[PowerPoint 37.7** Steps in the Planning Process\]

# **Step One: Identify Potential Natural Hazards**

-   The first "root" step involves identification of the natural hazards
    that affect the community. Hazards will be analyzed in terms of:

    -   likelihood

    -   intensity

    -   potential impact

-   Data that must be gathered for this step include:

    -   Past hazard events

    -   State and federal hazard data

# **Step Two: Assess Vulnerability**

-   The second "root" step requires analysis of the community's
    vulnerability to the hazards identified in Step One.

    -   Potential locations of hazard damage are mapped

    -   Existing development and potential future development are
        identified to see where development intersects with hazard areas

    -   Critical facilities and community assets are located

    -   Geographic Planning Areas are established

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-   Data that must be gathered for this step include:

    -   Topographic maps

    -   Hazard maps

    -   Tax assessment and census data

    -   Land use maps

    -   Zoning maps

    -   Critical facilities inventories and maps

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-   **Step Three: Assess Community Capability**

    -   The final "root" step is an assessment of the community's
        capability to carry out mitigation strategies.

        -   Capability includes taking a look at the institutional,
            fiscal, and political conditions in the community

        -   The capability assessment reveiws policies, practices,
            regulations, and programs that can both facilitate
            mitigation, as well as those that hinder mitigation action,
            or which increase the community's vulnerability.

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    -   Data that is needed for this step include:

        -   Local land use policies and regulations

        -   Local comprehensive or land use plan

        -   Capital improvements plan

        -   Local budget and fiscal documents

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-   **Step Four: Form Interim Conclusions:**

    -   This is the "ground level" of the planning process. Steps One,
        Two, and Three presented a snapshot of the community; Step Four
        allows the community to decide, based on the analyses performed
        thus far, whether a mitigation plan is necessary.

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-   **Step Five: Establish Values and Goals**

    -   Goal statements serve as the "trunk" of the mitigation planning
        tree. Goals and values are the central supporting element of the
        entire plan.

        -   Goals must be crafted carefully so that they are not overly
            ambitious (they should be attainable), but also so that they
            provide an incentive for the community to move forward and
            improve its resiliency.

    -   Resources to help carry out this step include:

        -   Community documents that contain existing goal statements

        -   Local policy makers' views

        -   Citizen contributions

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-   **Step Six: Formulate Mitigation Policies**

    -   The policies form the "branches" of the mitigation planning
        tree. Policies put into action the goals created in the previous
        step.

        -   Strategies in various mitigation categories are formulated.

        -   Policies must be selected according to established criteria,
            prioritized, and applied to Geographic Planning Areas.

        -   Policies must also be implemented and funded

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-   **Step Seven: Establish Procedures for Monitoring, Evaluating, and
    Reporting Progress on the Plan**

    -   This step serves as the "leaves" on the mitigation tree:
        constantly growing, keeping the tree alive.

        -   The plan must not remain static, sitting on the shelf. The
            plan must be periodically reviewed to check whether policies
            are being implemented, and goals are being accomplished.

    -   This step involves establishing benchmarks and indicators to
        check on progress of the plan.

    -   This step also involves setting responsibility for progress
        reports.

-   **Step Eight: Establish Procedures for Revisions and Updates of the
    Plan**

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-   Changing conditions in the community require changes in the plan as
    well.

-   The plan should be reviewed annually, and revised and updated if
    necessary.

-   FEMA requires a formal review every five years.

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-   **Step Nine: Adoption**

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-   The local government must formally adopt the mitigation plan to meet
    DMA2000 criteria.

    -   Documentation of the adoption process is required.

-   Adoption more readily assures that the plan will be taken seriously
    in the community, and fully implemented.

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**Objective 37.4 Become familiar with the first step in the mitigation
planning process: "Identify Potential Natural Hazards."**

**Requirements:**

The content should be presented as lecture, supported by PowerPoint
slides.

The following slides will be used during this objective:

**PowerPoint 37.8** Identify Potential Natural Hazards: What is the
Community's Problem?

**PowerPoint 37.9** Worksheet #1: Hazard Identification and Analysis

**PowerPoint 37.10** Likelihood of Occurrence

**PowerPoint 37.11** Measures of Hazard Intensity

**PowerPoint 37.12** Hazard Impact

**PowerPoint 37.13** Sources of Data

**Remarks:**

-   Identifying the natural hazards that could potentially impact the
    community is the first step in the planning process. After all, the
    community must **be aware of the problems it faces** in order to
    take any action.

> **\[PowerPoint 37.8 Identify Potential Natural Hazards: What is the
> Community's Problem?\]**

-   The following **information** will be discovered during this step:

    -   The **type** of natural hazards that threaten the community

    -   The **characteristics** associated with each hazard

    -   The **likelihood** the hazards will occur

    -   The likely magnitude or **intensity** of the hazards

    -   The potential **impacts** on the community

-   **[Worksheet #1: Hazard Identification and Analysis]{.underline}**

> **\[PowerPoint 37.9 Worksheet #1: Hazard Identification and
> Analysis\]**

-   **Worksheet #1,** which appears in the Guidebook, will help you
    identify the potential natural hazards that could occur in our
    chosen coastal community.

-   List the **Types of Natural Hazards** that could occur in the
    community.

    -   Some types of hazards have more than one **associated element**.
        Hurricanes involve high winds, storm surge, flooding, etc. Each
        of these elements could impact the community, and need to be
        identified as well.

    -   The worksheet should be filled out with *all* the potential
        hazards in the community. While many local and state governments
        focus on one particular hazard, FEMA encourages the creation of
        **multi-hazard plans** that include both regularly occurring
        hazards, as well as those which may be less frequent, but which
        could have devastating impacts.

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-   Indicate the **Likelihood of Occurrence** for each hazard identified

> **\[PowerPoint 37.10 Likelihood of Occurrence\]**

-   Based on regional data and local historical evidence, the likelihood
    that each hazard will occur should be estimated and recorded on
    Worksheet #1.

-   Frequency of occurrence can help determine how likely a particular
    hazard can be:

+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| **Likelihood**       | ## Frequency of Occurrence                    |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Highly Likely        | Near 100% probability in the next year        |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Likely               | Between 10% and 100% probability in the next  |
|                      | year, or at least one chance in the next 10   |
|                      | years                                         |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Possible             | Between 1% and 10% probability in the next    |
|                      | year, or at least one chance in the next 100  |
|                      | years                                         |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Unlikely             | Less than 1% probability in the next year, or |
|                      | less than one chance in the next 100 years.   |
+----------------------+-----------------------------------------------+

-   Note that **Flood Frequency** is a **statistical expression** of the
    average time period between floods equaling or exceeding a given
    magnitude. For example, a 100-year flood has a magnitude expected to
    be equaled or exceeded in any given year. The term is often used
    interchangeably with "recurrence interval."

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-   Indicate the **Hazards Intensity**

    -   Intensity is a measure of the strength of a hazard event. The
        intensity (also referred to as severity) of a given hazard event
        is usually determined using technical measures specific to the
        hazard.

> **\[PowerPoint 37.11 Measures of Hazard Intensity\]**

-   Scales have been created to rate levels of intensity for several
    types of hazards.

    -   The Modified Mercalli scale ranks **earthquakes**

    -   The Fujita scale rates **tornadoes**

    -   The Dolan-Davis scale ranks **nor'easters**

    -   The Saffir-Simpson scale ranks **hurricanes**

    -   **Flood** intensity is measured in terms of water depth and
        velocity

    -   **Wildfire** intensity is expressed as fire line intensity (the
        rate fire releases heat), fire spread (feet per second) and
        flame length

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-   In Worksheet #1, intensity can be ranked according to mild, moderate
    or severe.

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-   Estimate **Level of Impact**

> **\[PowerPoint 37.12 Hazard Impact\]**

-   Impact measures the amount of damage that could occur from a hazard
    event.

-   Impact includes an estimation of the magnitude of the event, the
    geographic extent, and the amount of human activity (buildings,
    people) in the impacted area.

+-----------+----------------+----------------------------------------+
| ## Level  | ##             | ## Impact                              |
|           |  Area Affected |                                        |
+-----------+----------------+----------------------------------------+
| # Cat     | #              | -   Multiple deaths                    |
| astrophic |  More than 50% |                                        |
|           |                | -   Complete shutdown of facilities    |
|           |                |     for 30 days                        |
|           |                |                                        |
|           |                | -   More than 50% of property severely |
|           |                |     damaged                            |
+-----------+----------------+----------------------------------------+
| Critical  | 25 -- 50%      | -   Multiple severe injuries           |
|           |                |                                        |
|           |                | -   Complete shutdown of critical      |
|           |                |     facilities for at least 2 weeks    |
|           |                |                                        |
|           |                | -   More than 25% of property severely |
|           |                |     damaged                            |
+-----------+----------------+----------------------------------------+
| # Limited | 10 -- 25%      | -   Some injuries                      |
|           |                |                                        |
|           |                | -   Complete shutdown of critical      |
|           |                |     facilities for more than 1 week    |
|           |                |                                        |
|           |                | -   More than 10% of property severely |
|           |                |     damaged                            |
+-----------+----------------+----------------------------------------+
| # N       | Less than 10%  | -   Minor injuries                     |
| egligible |                |                                        |
|           |                | -   Minimal quality-of-life impact     |
|           |                |                                        |
|           |                | -   Shutdown of critical facilities    |
|           |                |     and services for 24 hours or less  |
|           |                |                                        |
|           |                | -   Less than 10% of property severely |
|           |                |     damaged                            |
+-----------+----------------+----------------------------------------+

-   Document the Community's **Hazard History**

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-   In order to formulate suppositions as to possible future hazards,
    the community must be aware of past hazard events.

-   A hazard history can be a narrative description, accompanied by
    maps, of all significant hazard events in the past. How far back
    into the past the hazard history delves is a matter of time,
    resources, and availability of information.

-   The hazard history should include information on the dates, the
    extent of the past hazards, their locations within the community,
    their duration, and their impacts.

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-   **Formulate Conclusions**

    -   The hazards that have been identified must be **ranked and
        prioritized** according to how serious they are for the
        community.

    -   This final assessment will allow the community to **focus** on
        those hazards with the most potential to impact the community,
        and will be the targets for later steps in the planning process,
        including the formulation of mitigation strategies and policies.

> **\[PowerPoint 37.13 Sources of Data\]**

-   **[Sources of Data]{.underline}**

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-   There is a wide variety of data sources available in most
    communities to carry out Step One of the mitigation planning
    process.

-   **Local Sources:**

    -   Local historical evidence and community knowledge

    -   Newspaper accounts

    -   Local libary

    -   Local archives

    -   Weather records

    -   First-hand knowledge of residents

    -   Local weather stations

    -   Local floodplain manager

    -   Local planning office

###### Local emergency manager

-   **State Sources**

# State emergency management office

-   State weather or climatology office

-   State planning department

-   State floodplain management office/NFIP Coordinator

-   State Department of Transportation

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-   **Federal Sources**

    -   FEMA

    -   US Army Corps of Engineers

    -   National Weather Service

    -   National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

    -   NOAA Coastal Services Center

    -   US Natural Resources Conservation Service

-   **Regional Sources**

    -   Regional planning organizations

    -   Sanitary, drainage or soil and water conservation districts

    -   Watershed or River Basin organizations

    -   Universities

**Appendix A: Handouts**

**Handout 37.1: Instructions for Student Presentations on Hazard
Mitigation Planning**

Each group is responsible for presenting a completed step in the hazard
mitigation process to the class. The presentations should be based on
the planning steps as described in the assigned reading material:
*Keeping Natural Hazards From Becoming Disasters: A Mitigation Planning
Guidebook for Local Governments*.

While developing the presentation, the students are to put themselves in
the shoes of a local planner or emergency manager who is an employee of
the coastal community that has been selected by the instructor for this
portion of the course. The local employee has been tasked to develop a
local hazard mitigation plan that meets the requirements of the Disaster
Mitigation Act of 2000 for the community. As in real life, time,
resources, and data will be limited. If possible, real data and
resources for the jurisdiction should be used to complete the planning
steps (e.g., population figures, past hazard events, zoning ordinances,
flood maps, etc.). However, real plans often require months of research
and preparation. Therefore, hypothetical data may be substituted for the
real data for presentation purposes.

Assignments for group presentations are as follows:

Group 1 (to be presented during Session No. 38):

Step 1: "Identify Potential Natural Hazards"

Group 2 (to be presented during Session No. 39):

Step 2: "Assess Vulnerability"

Group 3 (to be presented during Session No. 40)

Step 3: "Assess Community Capability"

Class Debate and Discussion during Session No. 41:

Step 4: "Form Interim Conclusions"

Step 5: "Establish Values and Goals"

Group 4 (to be presented during Session No. 42)

Step 6: "Formulate Mitigation Policies"

Group 5 (to be presented during Session No. 43)

> Step 7: "Establish Procedures for Monitoring, Evaluating, and
> Reporting Progress"

Step 8: "Establish Procedures for Revisions and Updates"

Step 9: "Adoption"

1.  The presentation must not be shorter than 20 minutes or last longer
    than 25 minutes.

2.  Approximately 5-10 minutes of class time following the presentation
    will be for questions, critique, and class discussion.

3.  PowerPoint slides, overheads, posters, maps, and handouts are all
    acceptable formats for the presentations.

4.  The presentation must cover (but is not limited to) the following
    topics:

-   A list of all resources and data used to prepare the presentation
    and where the resources and data were obtained

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-   If the Guidebook includes worksheets for the planning step being
    presented, then the worksheet must be filled out using data for the
    selected coastal community. The Group must present the completed
    worksheet to the class, either in the form of a slide, overhead,
    poster, or handouts for each student.

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-   Each step of the planning process must include at least one visual
    (map, worksheet, poster, etc)

-   Each student in the group must prepare a written summary of the
    procedure followed in preparing the step. The write-up must include
    a narrative description of all the information given during the
    presentation, detailed explanations of any conclusions drawn, and a
    description of any worksheets that were used during the step. The
    write-up must also include a copy of the completed worksheet. The
    narrative description must further explain how the step fits into
    the overall planning process. What is the purpose of this step? How
    does it draw on prior steps? How does it support later steps in the
    planning process?

Course Developer References:

Please see Instructor and Student Readings