All-Hazards Mitigation Plan - Background and General Information
Background
The Saratoga County Office of Emergency Services is leading the creation of a comprehensive all-hazards mitigation plan for the County and its inclusive municipalities. The creation of this plan will allow the County and participating municipalities to be eligible for future mitigation funding from FEMA. This is an opportunity for the County to create a detailed plan that will address a variety of potential hazards that could affect some or all of our citizens.
The goal of the plan is to identify projects that can reduce damages from future natural hazards. The plan will include a risk assessment and a hazard-mitigation strategy. The primary hazard in Saratoga County is flooding, but other potential hazards to be analyzed include severe storms, severe winter storms, landslides and earthquakes.
The study will focus on existing and future buildings, infrastructure and critical facilities that might be impacted. Critical facilities include shelters and hospitals; infrastructure includes power-generation facilities, water utilities, roadways, railroads and communication systems.
Funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a contract has been awarded by the Board to Tetra Tech EM Inc. of Rockaway, New Jersey. The grant will cover an 18-month project to develop a multi-jurisdictional All-Hazards Mitigation Plan, prepared in accordance with state and federal standards and guidance.
The study will focus on existing and future buildings, infrastructure and critical facilities that might be impacted. Critical facilities include shelters and hospitals; infrastructure includes power-generation facilities, water utilities, roadways, railroads and communication systems.
Funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a contract has been awarded by the Board to Tetra Tech EM Inc. of Rockaway, New Jersey. The grant will cover an 18-month project to develop a multi-jurisdictional All-Hazards Mitigation Plan, prepared in accordance with state and federal standards and guidance.
What is “Hazard Mitigation”?
Hazard Mitigation is any action taken to reduce the loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters (natural, technological and man-made) (www.fema.gov). It is often considered the first of the four phases of emergency management; mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
Mitigation measures fall into the following six general categories:
Prevention: Measures such as planning and zoning, open space preservation, and development regulations, building codes, storm water management, fire fuel reduction, soil erosion, and sediment control.
Property Protection: Measures such as acquisition, relocation, storm shutters, rebuilding, barriers, floodproofing, insurance, and structural retrofits for high winds and earthquake hazards.
Public Education and Awareness: Measures such as outreach projects, real estate disclosure, hazard information centers, technical assistance, and school age and adult education programs.
Natural Resource Protection: Measures such as erosion and sediment control, stream corridor protection, vegetative management, and wetlands preservation.
Emergency Services: Measures such as hazard threat recognition, hazard warning systems, emergency response, protection of critical facilities, and health and safety maintenance.
Structural Projects: Measures such as dams, levees, seawalls, bulkheads, revetments, high flow diversions, spillways, buttresses, debris basins, retaining walls, channel modifications, storm sewers, and retrofitted buildings and elevated roadways (seismic protection).
What is a “Hazard Mitigation Plan”?
FEMA defines a Hazard Mitigation Plan as the documentation of a state or local government’s evaluation of natural hazards and the strategies to mitigate such hazards.
Hazard mitigation planning is the process of determining how to reduce or eliminate the loss of life and property damage resulting from natural hazards. Section 322 of the DMA 2000 specifically addresses mitigation planning at the state and local levels. FEMA has promulgated hazard mitigation planning regulations pursuant to the DMA 2000. These regulations identify four essential phases to mitigation planning: (1) organizing resources, (2) assess the risks, (3) develop the mitigation plan, and (4) implement the plan and monitor progress.
Saratoga County is preparing a Multi-Jurisdictional All-Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Plan will demonstrate the County and participating jurisdiction’s commitment to reducing risk and serve as a guide for decision makers as they commit resources to minimize the effects of natural hazards.
How does this Plan benefit Saratoga County?
A hazard mitigation plan will assist Saratoga County with the following:
- An increased understanding of natural hazards the County faces
- Development of more sustainable and disaster-resistant communities
- Eligibility for federal funds for pre-disaster mitigation planning (DMA2000)
- Partnerships that support planning and mitigation efforts and may offer potential financial savings. For example:
- Flood insurance premium reduction
- Broader resources for funding of mitigation projects
- Enhanced benefit-cost rations for COE projects
- Reduced long-term impacts and damages to human health and structures and reduced repair costs
Proactive mitigation leads to sustainable, more cost-effective projects. By contrast, reactive mitigation tends to lead to the “quick-fix” alternatives; it simply costs too much to address the effects of disasters only after they happen. A surprising amount of damage can be prevented if the County anticipates where and how disasters will occur, and take steps to mitigate those damages.
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