Understanding Public & Private Mitigation 1
Discussion Board 3
Understanding Public & Private Mitigation
Andrew J. Hall
Helms School of Government, Liberty University
HLSC 620, Hazard Mitigation
Dr. Isaacson
Understanding Public & Private Mitigation 2
What does mitigation mean and how does it work?
Mitigation is a preventative measures action phase, it is meant to “prevent or reduce the
cause, impact, and consequences of disasters (FEMA, 2013)” It is a phase that can be done years
in advance, through everyday resources, to help ensure safety of a community. A great example
is bulkhead shoring and beachhead improvements to alleviate annual hurricane effects. It can
also be done during a disaster to help alleviate further damage or loss of life. Mitigation is key to
stopping unnecessary damage or destruction. Mitigation implementations are most often prior to
the disaster. This usually begins with identifying target hazards in a locality. Any amount of
mitigation will have profound affects in a future disaster. Mitigation is the responsibility of
everyone from individuals to federal government. After identifying hazards, the process should
involve steps, including construction, stockpiling, policies, and procedures, and so forth, that will
minimize damage.
A biblical perspective of mitigation a is found in the story of Joseph and the famine.
Joseph was able to save numerous lives and communities throughout the known world, (through
God’s provision) by stockpiling provisions during a famine. Also, Noah (again through God’s
direction and grace) was able to survive a worldwide flood by mitigation and planning. The
Bible gives clear guidance and wisdom on the subject as well, Proverbs 6:6-8, “Go to the ant, O
sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she
prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.”
Explain the “whole community approach”.
A whole community approach is based off the philosophy that to properly mitigate it will
take each community on each level of government to create mitigation plans and procedures.
Understanding Public & Private Mitigation 3
These mitigation efforts of each community will naturally build upon each other and have some
overlap that will allow for stronger mitigation efforts. A community must take responsibility for
their area. More often than mot it is the citizens of a community that know what is around and
what might be a problem, far greater than politicians or administrators. In most cases the
community can easily identify what issues are problem issues and either take care of them or get
other resources to handle them. Government can only do but so much to meet the challenges of
a disaster, and so it literally takes a village as the old adage goes. “Whole Community is a means
by which residents, emergency management practitioners, organizational and community
leaders, and government officials can collectively understand and assess the needs of their
respective communities and determine the best ways to organize and strengthen their assets,
capacities, and interests (FEMA, 2011, p. 3).”
What does sustainability, redundancy, and resiliency mean as each pertains to mitigation.
Sustainability
Sustainability is the philosophy that develops long term practices that will meet the
current demands without compromising the needs and demands of future practices and
generations (Islam & Ryan, 2016) Sustainability takes into account the economic, social, and
environmental factors of future generations and considers wise choices that create a lasting
quality of life.
Redundancy
Redundancy, simply put, is mitigating your mitigation. It means having backups to your
backups and creating plans that allow for worse case scenario and errors. “Redundancy, the
Understanding Public & Private Mitigation 4
ability to utilize backup systems for critical parts of the system that fail, is extremely important
to consider in the development of a process or plan for emergency response and recovery (DOT,
2006).” Ensuring that there is an overlap of resources that can be used in case of failure or error
is key to meeting the demands of a disaster or catastrophe.
Resiliency
Resiliency is to adapt and overcome. It is not just about rebuilding physical buildings or
replenishing resources, but rather it is also a state of mind. An effort to learn and adapt.
Resiliency is in contrast to wallowing in self-pity when disaster strikes. It is about utilizing our
individual knowledge and resources to help our individual circumstance so then we can better
help each other. We get there by ensuring our individual efforts toward mitigation and
preparedness. This includes preparing for immaterial and physical needs, such as sandbagging
our houses or plywood on the widows, while also keeping food and water storage. Simple yet
effective things to prepare us as individuals and families will help reduce the need for response,
especially easily avoidable response.
Why is public – private partnerships in mitigation important and how does or can it work?
Public-private partnerships (PPP) are another resource within mitigation efforts. Much
like the whole community approach that relies on and works best with a total participation, PPP’s
ultimately are an effort to further mitigate and meet needs. PPPs are a collective relationship
between the public sector and the private sector. Since so much of the nation is owned an d
operated by the private sector (Islam & Ryan, 2016, p.171) it is an important relationship to
Understanding Public & Private Mitigation 5
maintain to each bring what resources and information to the proverbial table to help with
mitigation efforts.
Discuss business continuity planning.
As 2020 has been a prime example of the need for business continuity planning, BCP
refers to having a plan to reopen and resume business. Economic disaster can quickly follow a
natural disaster if there is not a plan to get everything started back up. “A business continuity
plan is essential to continue business during (and after) a disaster (Islam & Ryan, 2016, p. 187).”
Small and Large business are affected by disaster with small business taking the brunt. A BCP
should be implement on both the public and private efforts. Meaning a public administration
needs to have a plan to get a city back to normal, while a business needs to have contingency
plans including insurance that will help them whether the storm. A continuity plan includes
analysis, strategies, plan implementation, and testing.
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