Hazard Mitigation Planning: 4/5/12

Who We Are

TEMA Mitigation Planning• Josh Wickham (Middle & East TN) Planner

• Michael Caudill (West TN) Area Coordinator

– Craig Hanrahan Planning Supervisor

TEMA Mitigation Grants• Judy Huff State Hazard Mitigation Officer

– Mary Lynn Gillingham, Donna Holden, & Billy Harper Grant Managers

Presentation Agenda

• Hazard Mitigation Planning

• TEMA’s 3 Phase Approach: TMI

• How Utilities Can Get Involved

Pillars of Emergency Management

Define • Hazard Mitigation– any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate

the long term risk to human life and property from hazards

Preparedness / Response

• short-term fix• prepares humans to respond

Mitigation

• long-term fix• can reduce property damage• project/program does much of the response work itself

Flooding: Lincoln County, TN

Tornado: Lake County, TN

Earthquake: Shelby County, TN

Flooding: Bradley County, TN

Define • Hazard Mitigation Plan– a single or multi-jurisdictional planning document

that profiles specific hazard risks & vulnerabilities and then addresses & prioritizes potential mitigation projects that can reduce those specific vulnerabilities.

How Did Mitigation Plans Come About?

• Prior to 2000: Reactive

• After 2000: Proactive – Planning/Plans = Proactive

Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 this law is what requires state and local governments to prepare FEMA-approved HZMIT plans for eligibility to participate in hazard mitigation grant programs

Mitigation Grant Program

• Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)

• Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program (PDM)

• Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA)

• Repetitive Flood Claims Program (RFC)

• Severe Repetitive Loss Program (SRL)

Pass all approximately 40 Requirements = FEMA Approved

Local Gov.- 5 year planning cycleState Gov.- 3 year planning cycle

HZMIT Plan Components

1. Planning Process

2. Risk Assessment

3. Mitigation Strategy

4. Plan Maintenance

1. Planning Process

– How the plan was prepared

– What steps were taken to develop the plan

– What existing data sources were reviewed

– Who was involved in the planning process

Committee List-who was involved

Planning Process Steps-when meetings occurred-what tasks were completed by whom & when-how the planning process was conducted

Public Involvement-how public was informed

Review of Sources-data sources-existing local codes/plans

Updates to Previous Plan-how each section was updated-why each section was updated or not

2. Risk AssessmentHazards– Profiling what hazards affect which

areas

– Describing previous hazard occurrences

– Addressing the strength and probability of the hazards

– Describing possible impacts the hazards could cause on the community’s businesses, environments, structures, critical facilities, and persons

Vulnerabilities – Determining the community’s most

vulnerable structures, populations, and infrastructure to hazard impacts

HazardCharacteristic

DescribingPossible Impacts

DeterminingMost Vulnerable

Areas

Gen. Description of Hazard-how hazard comes about, etc.

Extents & Hazard Scales-Intensity Scales-Worst Case Scenarios

Probability

Previous Occurrences-Locations, Dates, Extents Deaths/Injuries, Property Damages

Maps

Hazard Event Descriptions-Past Impacts & Damages

Risk Assessments

Areas of Prime Concern

Statistical Assessments

3. Mitigation Strategy

– Determining goals/projects to reduce the most vulnerable areas identified

– Describing funding sources, timeframes, and project management details

– Placing a focus on cost-effectiveness of the mitigation projects

– Prioritization of the projects

Goals

Project Prioritization-Methodology to prioritize projects by factors such as current resources, cost-effectiveness, community support, etc.

Project Listing-Name of Project-Project Details: Responsible Agency, Possible Funding Sources, Timeframe-Project Priority Ranking

Updates to Previous Plan-Status of Projects: completed, deleted, deferred and how/why

4. Plan Maintenance

– How to keep the plan a living breathing document to be continually updated and implemented

How will the plan be:-Monitored-Evaluated-Updated

Presentation Agenda

• Hazard Mitigation Planning

• TEMA’s 3 Phase Approach: TMI

• How Utilities Can Get Involved

TEMA’s 3 Phase Approach

An outreach initiative developed after the May 2010 Floods to promote, strengthen, and support statewide

mitigation actions.

Tennessee Mitigation Initiative

TMI Phase 1: All Counties to have an FEMA-Approved HZMIT Plan

status: in progress

HZMIT Plan Status: August 2010

Phase 1• Focus:

– Assist Presidentially-Declared Disaster Counties Develop New Hazard Mitigation Plans First

• Since all of West TN had plans, our strategy was to begin in Middle TN and work our way through East TN

• Challenges:– A large amount of County EMA Directors are part-time, voluntary, or were

fully immersed in the May 2010 flood recovery, that they therefore had little time to write a plan from scratch

– A large amount of EMA Directors had knowledge of disaster preparedness, response, & recovery, but not mitigation

– Mitigation plans require meeting lots of technical regulations that many local governments don’t have the training or resources needed to complete

– Even with grants available, some counties couldn’t hire planning consultants because of the financial strain of the grant’s required local match

Phase 1

VS.

Created the “HZMIT Tool Program”: a program designed to provide a no-cost, no-headache approach to assisting local governments in developing hazard mitigation plans

Step 1 of 3: Databases/Studies

Step 2 of 3: Discussions/Fill in the Blanks

Step 3 of 3: Simple Check List

• Hold additional meetings where at least one is advertised in the newspaper to give the public a chance to participate – TEMA will not be present at these meetings

• Choose Mitigation Projects; Prioritize Projects

HZMIT Tool Shell

HZMIT Plan Status: August 2010

HZMIT Plan Status: April 2012

• 42 Plans approved for longer than two years (compared to 8 in 2010)• 6 Plans in FEMA Review• 26 Plans between 60-90% complete• Approximately 75 Community Assistance Workshops in Mid. & East TN along with additional assistance West TN

Phase 1 Additional Goals

• 1.1- Assist Local Governments in Enhancing Risk Assessment Data for previously Presidentially-Declared Disaster Hazards in TN– Flooding, Severe Storms, Hail, Straight-line Winds,

Tornados, Winter Storms, Freezes

Simplified Floodplain Maps

#23

HAZUS Flood Runs

Phase 1 Additional Goals

• 1.2- Inform Local Governments about Mitigation Grants during the Planning Process– creates more useful plans & planning upfront

Phase 1 Additional Goals• 1.3- Promote the bringing together of two different

professions into the local mitigation planning process

– community development professionals• built-environment: highways, utilities, public works, code

enforcement, community planning, etc.

– emergency management professionals • emergency services: fire, police, EMS, etc.

TEMA asks County EMA Directors to get community development professionals involved; County EMA sets up the meetings and invites

TMI Phase 2: Revamp the State of TN HZMIT Plan

status: initial stage

Phase 2• Focus: Updating the State’s Risk Assessment and Strategies

– placing an emphasis on flood & earthquake studies

• TEMA has secured a planning grant to get contracted assistance in revamping the plan

• TEMA will be working the Office of Information Resources to complete a GIS-based risk assessment of state government facilities

• TEMA will work with other professionals, agencies, & academia to incorporate information from reports, interviews, & studies into the plan– includes “Seismic Risk Assessment for West TN Public Water Systems” Report

Phase 2 Additional Goal• 2.1- Develop a new additional “HZMIT Tool

Program” that focuses on plan updates

– Four Counties in Middle TN have used it successfully thus far

– Focuses on providing additional detailed risk assessment information and reorganizing mitigation projects

– Provide the new tool as another assistance option to East and West TN Counties

TMI Phase 3: Enhance Mitigation Planning Resources

status: brainstorming stage

Phase 3• Assist Local Governments in Enhancing Risk Assessment Data

for Non-Presidentially Declared Disaster Hazards in TN– Earthquakes, Landslides, Wildfires, etc.

• Creation of How-to Guides and Pilot Programs– Potential Examples

• Using GIS Spatial Analysis in Risk Assessments• Special Mitigation Actions for Historically Significant Buildings• Using Zoning, Codes, or Incentives toward Mitigation Goals• Etc.

• Suggestions/Ideas???

Presentation Agenda

• Hazard Mitigation Planning

• TEMA’s 3 Phase Approach: TMI

• How Utilities Can Get Involved

Why Utilities Should Be Involved

• Utility systems represent a “Critical Facility / Function”; therefore they need to remain as functional as possible during times of emergency– Mitigation can assist with these efforts

• Utility personnel have knowledge of structures and potential vulnerabilities that Emergency Managers don’t have– This information should be incorporated into mitigation planning

and other EMA efforts

Why Utilities Should Be Involved• To be eligible to receive FEMA Mitigation Grants, Utilities

Districts will need to be involved in the Local Government Mitigation Planning Processes and have potential projects, (especially if they would require FEMA mitigation grants), listed in the local plan

• Involved: be documented in a meeting sign-in sheet & contribute to the basic risk assessment (write up could be as little as ½ a page)

• Project(s) listed in the Local Plan: When applying for FEMA Mitigation Grants, the first two things FEMA looks for are:

– Does the community have an Approved Hazard Mitigation Plan?– What page number is the project seeking grant funding listed on in the plan?

(Note: FEMA requires minimal project details in the plan, the majority of project details are to be found in the grant application.

How to Get Involved

1. Contact your County’s EMA Director– TEMA provides assistance, but local governments are

the coordinators – EMA Directors make up approximately 95% of

mitigation plan coordinators, but a few cities/counties have water services, community planning, and other departments as their coordinators

– Google search “____ County TN Emergency Management” to find EMA Director’s Contact Information

How to Get Involved

2. Tell County EMA Director that your Utility District would like to become a member of the Mitigation Plan Committee and attend future planning meetings– Note: Many communities have just recently completed

their new plans or updates, therefore many committee meetings may not be held for a while

– If updates to the plan won’t take place for a while, plan “revisions” can be submitted to FEMA

Presentation Agenda

• Hazard Mitigation Planning

• TEMA’s 3 Phase Approach: TMI

• How Utilities Can Get Involved

Thank You!

Any Questions???