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This newsletter discusses the preparation of the City of Dillingham Hazard Mitigation Plan. It has been prepared to inform interested agencies, stakeholders, and the public about the project and to solicit comments. This newsletter can also be viewed on the State of Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Website at http://www.ak-prepared.com.
The City of Dillingham was awarded a grant from theState of Alaska, Department of Homeland Security andEmergency Management (DHS&EM) to prepare aHazard Mitigation Plan. The plan identifies naturalhazards that affect the community including earthquake,erosion, flooding, severe storms, severe winter storms,technological, tsunami, volcano, and wildfire. The planalso identifies the people and facilities potentially at risk and ways to mitigate hazards. The public participationand planning process will be documented as part of theproject.
What is Hazard Mitigation?
Across the United States, natural and human-causeddisasters have increasingly caused injury, death, propertydamage, and interruption of business and governmentservices. The toll on individuals, families, andbusinesses can be very high. The time, money, andemotional effort required to respond to and recover fromthese disasters take public resources and attention awayfrom other important programs and problems.The people and property in the State of Alaska are at risk from a variety of hazards that have the potential forcausing human injury, property damage, orenvironmental harm.The purpose of hazard mitigation is to implementprojects that eliminate the risk or reduce the severity of hazards on people and property. Mitigation programsmay include short-term and long-term activities toreduce the hazards, reduce exposure to hazards, orreduce the effects of hazards. Mitigation could includebetter preparation, response, and recovery measures.Examples of hazard mitigation activities includeelevating or relocating buildings, constructing seawalls,developing or strengthening building codes, andeducating residents and building owners.
Why Do We Need A Hazard MitigationPlan?
A community is eligible to receive grant money formitigation programs by preparing a Hazard MitigationPlan. Communities must have an approved mitigationplan to receive a project grant from the Pre-DisasterMitigation (PDM) program. The City of Dillinghamplans to apply for PDM funds after the plan is adoptedby the City and approved by DHS&EM and the FederalEmergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The Planning Process
There are very specific federal requirements that must bemet when preparing a Hazard Mitigation Plan. Theserequirements are commonly referred to as the DisasterMitigation Act of 2000, or DMA2000. Informationabout the requirements may be found on the Internet at:
http://www.fema.gov/fima/ifrs.shtm
.The DMA2000 requires the plan to document thefollowing topics:
Planning process
Hazard identification
Risk assessment
Goals
Mitigation programs, actions, and projects
A resolution from the community adopting theplanFEMA has prepared a user’s guide that explains in detailhow each of the DMA2000 requirements are met. Thisguide is available on the Internet at:http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1867 The Dillingham Hazard Mitigation Plan has beenprepared following those guidelines.In spring 2006 the planning process kicked-off with theestablishment of the local planning team and a boxholdersurvey. The boxholder survey was used to educate thecommunity, assess the community’s concerns abouthazards in the area, and develop mitigation measuresappropriate for the community. In addition to the survey,the planning team conducted a series of interviews withseveral property owners to learn more about the historyof hazards and some of the most significant events thecommunity has experienced.
The local planning team then identified critical facilitieslocated in the community. These are facilities that arecritical to the recovery of a community in the event of a
December 2007
Newsletter
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Environmental Protection Agency: Dillingham%20HMP%20Newsletter
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| Upload Date: | 01/28/2008 |
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