Mitigation and Preparedness

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Chapter 6

Mitigation & Preparedness

Classic Definitions

  • Mitigation - a sustained action to reduce or eliminate risk to people and property from hazards and their effects
  • Preparedness - a state of readiness to respond to a disaster, crisis or any other type of emergency situation

DHS Mitigation Planning Process

Identify and organize resources

Conduct a risk or threat assessment and estimate losses

Identify mitigation measures that will reduce the effects of the hazards and create a strategy to deal with the mitigation measures in priority order

Implement the measures, evaluate the results, and keep the plan up-to-date

3 Questions to Ask When Considering a Risk

  • What can happen?
  • How likely is it?
  • What are the consequences?

Mitigation

  • When applying mitigation, attempts are made to minimize both the probability and consequence components of risk
  • With many risks, however, only one of these components (probability or consequence) can be reduced
  • With terrorism, however, there is a unique opportunity to reduce both the probability and the consequence of an attack

FEMA Mitigation Directorate

  • Responsible for a majority of US government hazard mitigation activities
  • Performs several organizational activities that serve to promote Protection, Prevention, and Partnerships at the Federal, State, local, and individual levels
  • Overall mission is to protect lives and prevent the loss of property from natural and other hazards
  • Employs the all hazards approach, through a comprehensive, risk-based EM program

Mitigation Directorate Divisions

  • Risk Analysis Division
  • Risk Reduction Division
  • Risk Insurance Division

National Flood Map Modernization Program (NFMM)

  • Improves existing flood maps and creates new maps based on new technology and standards
  • The need exists because of the dynamic nature of flood hazards that change with geography, changing information management standards, improvements in information delivery methods such as the internet, and advances in technologies such as GIS
  • NFMM is creating electronic maps based on GIS that adhere to newest data management standards

National Dam Safety Program

  • Created by the Water Resources and Development Act of 1996
  • Reauthorized twice (in 2002 and 2006)
  • Coordinated by FEMA
  • Primary goals:
  • Provide dam safety training
  • Increase the frequency of dam safety inspections
  • Create and test emergency response plans
  • Promote dam safety awareness through videos and other educative material.

Mitigation Planning Program

  • Administered by FEMA’s Risk Analysis Division
  • Creates multi-hazard mitigation planning manuals, “How to” guidelines, and best practice documents
  • Works closely with several partners in different areas of interest, and expertise, including the American Planning Association, Association of State Floodplain Managers, Institute for Business and Home Safety, and National Institute for Building Sciences

National Hurricane Program (NHP)

  • A multi-agency program designed to lead projects and initiatives that help protect communities and their residents from hurricane hazards
  • Current partners include (but are not limited to):
  • National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA)
  • National Weather Service (NWS)
  • U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
  • The primary focus of the program is to support state and community planning and decision making for hurricane evacuations, and provides assessment and analysis information of potential hurricane paths, winds, and damage

National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP)

  • Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977
  • Four Agencies
  • FEMA coordinated until 2003 – now NIST
  • USGS conducts/supports investigations into earthquake origins, predicts quake effects, characterizes earthquake hazards, and disseminates earth science information
  • NSF funds earthquake engineering research, basic earth science research, and earthquake related social science
  • NIST conducts/supports engineering studies to improve seismic provisions of building codes, standards, and practices for buildings and lifelines

FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)

  • Authorized under Section 404 of the Stafford Act
  • Provides grants to States and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures after a major disaster declaration
  • Eligible applicants are:
  • State and local governments
  • Indian tribes or other tribal organizations
  • Certain private or non-profit organizations

Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Program

  • Authorized under Section 203 of the Stafford Act
  • Established to assist States and local governments (including Tribal governments) in implementing cost-effective hazard mitigation activities that complement a comprehensive mitigation program
  • Development of State and local multi-hazard mitigation plans is key to maintaining eligibility for future PDM funding

Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program

  • Provides funding to assist States and communities in implementing measures to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of flood damage to buildings, manufactured homes, and other structures insurable under the (NFIP)
  • Types of grants available under FMA:
  • Planning
  • Project
  • Technical Assistance

Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) Program

  • Part of the National Flood Insurance Program
  • Serves to reduce or eliminate flood related damages and insurance claims for properties with severe repetitive flood damage potential
  • Among qualifying projects are:
  • Flood proofing (historical properties only) 
  • Relocation
  • Elevation
  • Acquisition
  • Mitigation reconstruction (demolition rebuild)
  • Minor physical localized flood control projects

Repetitive Flood Claims Program

  • Conceptually similar to the Severe Repetitive Loss Program
  • Qualification criteria are more relaxed
  • State or community must have had at least one NFIP claim
  • Projects reduce the vulnerability of properties against floods
  • Can only be spent to improve structures that are located within a State or community that is ineligible for the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program due to cost share or capacity to manage the activities

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

  • Congress established with the passage of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968
  • Enables property owners to buy insurance as a protection against floods in exchange for State and community floodplain management regulations
  • Designed to provide disaster assistance alternative
  • Flood damage reduced nearly $1 billion / year Buildings constructed in compliance with NFIP standards suffer approximately 80% less damage
  • Every $3 paid in flood insurance claims saves $1 in disaster assistance payments

Prevention Actions and Programs

  • Prevention = actions taken to avoid an incident or intervening to stop an incident from occurring
  • NRF may be implemented to prevent an incident
  • Prevention activities may include:
  • heightened inspections
  • improved surveillance and security operations
  • public health and agricultural surveillance and testing
  • immunizations, isolation, or quarantine
  • specific law enforcement operations aimed at deterring, preempting, interdicting, or disrupting illegal activity and apprehending potential perpetrators and bringing them to justice
  • Most activities related to terrorism prevention

Preparedness Actions and Program

  • Preparedness provides for the readiness and testing of all actions and plans prior to actual application in a real event or disaster
  • FEMA must prepare for a multitude of threats, many of which require specific planning and equipment

Bio/Chem Preparedness

  • Poses a distinct challenge due to:
  • unique consequences
  • relatively limited experience of EM professionals in dealing with them
  • This challenge is being addressed by local, State, Federal, private, and non-profit agencies
  • The majority of DHS preparedness funding targets these WMD hazards

MaHIM

  • Medical and Health Incident Management System
  • Designed to help communities develop their own medical mass-casualty incident management capacity
  • Proposes inter-jurisdictional framework
  • Goal: define the medical/public health functions and processes required to manage a mass casualty incident
  • An all-hazards approach used in the system’s design
  • The 3 medical objectives are:
  • Reduce hazard exposure
  • Increase hazard resistance
  • Promote/achieve healing from hazard effects

Nuclear/Radiological Preparedness

  • NRC is primary Federal agency in charge of regulating US commercial radiological operations
  • The NRC's regulatory mission covers three main areas:
  • Reactors
  • Materials
  • Waste
  • Ensures adequate preparedness measures to protect the health and safety of the public – ‘Protective Measures’
  • NRC Emergency Preparedness (EP) - ensures plant operators capable of implementing measures to protect public health and safety in the event of a radiological emergency

Community Issues

  • The terrorism threat knows no geographic, social or economic boundaries
  • While DHS focuses on Federal and State efforts to prepare for and combat terrorism, local communities are struggling to address the terrorism risk

Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)

  • Provides opportunities for all Americans to engage in community service
  • Includes:
  • Senior Corps
  • Learn & Serve
  • Americorps
  • Many CNCS activities related to homeland security serve to increase national and community preparedness for all hazards

Citizen Corps

  • Created in 2002 to ‘help coordinate volunteer activities that will make our communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to any emergency situation’
  • Provides opportunities for people to participate in a range of measures to make their families, homes, and communities safer from the threats of crime, terrorism, and disasters of all kinds
  • Coordinated nationally by FEMA

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs)

  • Help train people to be better prepared to respond to emergency situations in their communities
  • When emergencies happen, CERT members can give critical support to first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims, and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site
  • CERT classes taught in the community by a trained team of first responders

Medical Reserve Corps (MRC)

Coordinates the skills of practicing and retired physicians, nurses and other health professionals as well as other citizens interested in health issues, who are eager to volunteer to address their community’s ongoing public health needs and to help their community during large-scale emergency situations

Other Programs

  • Neighborhood Watch Program (NWP)
  • Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS)
  • Fire Corps

Community Concerns Related to Service Programs

  • Resources: Greater access to resources to fund Homeland Security programs and projects at the community level
  • Information: Greater access to practical information about application, eligibility, recruitment, retention, and other concerns
  • Programming: The need for innovative and effective programming ideas
  • Customizing: The need to focus on diverse and “special needs” populations

The American Red Cross (ARC)

  • The ARC has always been one of the most important partners of the Federal, State and local governments in disaster relief operations
  • ARC is working to establish itself as an effective partner in the new homeland security environment
  • Several ARC chapters have already developed homeland security programs, where they provide training for volunteers from local communities

Private Sector involvement in Mitigation and Preparedness

  • Business Impact Analyses (BIAs)
  • Crisis Communications Planning
  • IT and Systems Infrastructure Redundancy Planning
  • Geographic Location & Back-Up Sites
  • Transportation Planning
  • Crisis Leadership
  • Insurance

Sarbanes-Oxley

  • Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 created to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures
  • Response to financial fraud :Enron / WorldCom
  • Is now a driving force behind corporate Business Continuity Planning
  • Section 404 of the act implies BCP must be taken for compliance

TOPOFF 2 Exercise

  • Conducted Monday, May 12, 2003
  • $16 million price tag
  • Included more than 8,000 participants from 19 federal agencies
  • Goals
  • Improve the nation's capacity to manage extreme events
  • Create broader frameworks for the operation of expert crisis and consequence management systems
  • Validate authorities, strategies, plans, policies, procedures, and protocols
  • Build a sustainable, systematic national exercise program to support the national strategy for homeland security