Preparedness and Mitigation

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SEC200_r3_Week3_Mitigation_Tools_Reference.docx

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SEC/200 Version 3

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Mitigation Tools

· Hazard Identification and Mapping is the most essential part of any mitigation strategy as it allows for the analysis of the hazards in a particular area. The resources for identification and mapping are numerous and are available from several government agencies.

· Design and Construction Applications provide one of the most cost effective means of addressing risk. Building codes, architecture and design criteria, and soils and landscaping criteria all can be used to reduce a structure’s vulnerability.

· Land Use Planning offers many local options for effecting mitigation, including acquisition, easements, storm water management, annexation, environmental review, and floodplain management plans. It also encompasses a myriad of zoning options, such as density controls, special uses permits, historic preservation, coastal zone management, and subdivision controls.

· Financial Incentives are emerging as an effective means for promoting mitigation and include special tax assessments, passage of tax increases or bonds to pay for mitigation, relocation assistance, targeting federal community development or renewal grant funds for mitigation, impact fees, and transfer of development rights. Neighborhood Development Floating Zones and the Community Rating System are two innovative examples of financial incentives.

· Insurance mitigates some of the financial costs of disasters, though critics argue it merely transfers the risk from the policyholder to the insurance company (and thus societal risk remains constant). The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was considered one of the most effective mitigation programs ever created, though Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and a series of major floods have had a devastating impact on the National Flood Insurance Fund. Federal legislation in 2012 and 2014 made various reforms to the program.

· Structural Controls, a controversial technique, can have positive and negative effects, and merely control the hazard rather than reduce it. The most common structural control is the levee, but also includes seawalls, bulkheads, breakwaters, groins, and jetties, among others.

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