Why mitigation is important

The stucco facade of this building shattered like an eggshell as lava flowing around the base of the three-story structure applied such pressure that the walls shifted and collapsed.

A national wind hazard reduction program, modeled on the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program, is needed to improve building performance in high winds and severe weather. The program should emphasize mitigation. Schools and medical facilities, in particular, should be subject to stringent building codes. High winds can cause substantial property damage and economic loss. Research needs to focus on whether current mitigation practice, including the wind-resistance provisions of building codes, is responsive to the potential magnitude of the problem.

Overcoming resistance to mitigation. Barriers to the adoption of mitigation measures need to be clearly identified and innovative strategies developed to overcome resistance. Success stories, computer models, and simulations should be components of such a program. Real experiences can provide both insight into the factors that contribute to successful mitigation programs and the means for communities to capitalize on opportunities that follow a disaster.

Computer simulations and other tools that incorporate the tax base, revenues, loss estimates, and other key variables can provide government and industry with information critical to their decision-making. Simulations of past recovery and reconstruction efforts, including decisions and trade-offs, may contribute to appreciation of the value of mitigation. Response and recovery need to be a coordinated effort of local, state, and federal government, private voluntary organizations, and community volunteers.

During and after Hurricane Hugo, U. Marine Corps volunteers worked with the Salvation Army to move bottled water and other requisite supplies through relief centers and to appropriate locations in a timely manner.

Initial priorities for U. It focuses on seven issues: hazard and risk assessment; awareness and education; mitigation; preparedness for emergency response; recovery and reconstruction; prediction and warning; learning from disasters; and U.

The committee presents its philosophy of calls for broad public and private participation to reduce the toll of disasters. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website. Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one.

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Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available. Do you enjoy reading reports from the Academies online for free? Sign up for email notifications and we'll let you know about new publications in your areas of interest when they're released. Get This Book. Visit NAP. Looking for other ways to read this? No thanks. Awareness and Education Page 21 Share Cite.

Suggested Citation: "4. Page 22 Share Cite. Page 23 Share Cite. To achieve this goal, the Committee proposes that local jurisdictions take the following steps: incorporate both structural and nonstructural mitigation measures in new development, examine ways to reduce the vulnerability of existing structures, take steps to reduce the vulnerability of natural resources, and undertake mitigation training with support from state and federal governments.

A program for enhancing the nation's hazard mitigation capabilities should include: Protection of schools and hospitals. Page 24 Share Cite. Page 25 Share Cite.

Government at all levels should set an example by requiring that new facilities that it funds, regulates, or leases be designed, built, and located in accordance with modern building codes and sound Whether sparked by lightning or by powerlines downed in a storm, the path of forest fires is unpredictable, leaving behind a stark landscape, here including the blackened remains of a chimney and cement foundations of a cabin.

Page 26 Share Cite. Page 27 Share Cite. Page 28 Share Cite. Plans, ordinances, policies and regulations should be mutually reinforcing. All should leave to the development of a more sustainable, resilient community.

Brunswick County was chosen as a best practice because it went the extra step of ensuring critical facilities were protected at two feet above the year flood elevation as opposed to the usual year flood level. Although it does not specifically cite climate change as the reason for taking this precaution, communities should consider the likelihood of changing floodplains and increased severe weather events as a result of climate change.

The Brunswick County plan states that it will:. Protect new critical facilities to 2 feet above the year flood elevation. Two of the actions included in its plan are listed below. Develop a program for density tradeoffs. Shoshone County was chosen as a best practice because its plan strongly links mitigation actions to existing community plans, as exemplified in the excerpted action below. Actions include removing vegetation immediately adjacent to homes, improving ingress and egress, and replacing flammable structure materials with fire-resistant materials e.

These actions involve modifying existing structures and infrastructure to protect them from a hazard or remove them from a hazard area. This could apply to public or private structures as well as critical facilities and infrastructure. This type of action also involves projects to construct manmade structures to reduce the impact of hazards. Task 9 — Create a Safe and Resilient Community provides more information on these programs. The plan also includes clear guidelines for identifying particularly vulnerable buildings.

Develop standard for structural sound and asset tie-down and promote purchase of earthquake insurance. Effective mitigation planning and efforts can break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. This online training course along with video training provided through the links below, covers the fundamentals of the mitigation planning requirements for communities to develop new or updated Mitigation Plans that address community priorities and needs and meet requirements established in 44 CFR As part of this study, researchers at UNC systematically analyzed local hazard mitigation plans drawn from six states to assess their content and quality.

Each plan was evaluated using a hazard mitigation plan quality protocol that has been developed, tested and applied over several projects across the country.

The website is designed to help guide the user through the process of developing or updating a local hazard mitigation plan that will meet the requirements for approval by the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA. Media Center. Contact DPS.

Homeland Security and Emergency Management. It looks like your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. Do Not Show Again Close. Most people have been affected by natural hazards in some way. Blue Earth County and its residents are vulnerable to a variety of hazards including tornadoes, floods, extreme temperatures and severe winter weather. While these hazards cannot be prevented from occurring, mitigation planning focuses on reducing the impact of such events when they do occur.

Mitigation strategies include actions taken in the form of projects that will substantially reduce or eliminate repetitive losses due to the occurrence of the same hazard.