Hazard Mitigation
CHAPTER 7
HAZARD MITIGATION
This chapter will explain what hazard mitigation is, and how it fits in with the other phases of emergency management. Next, the chapter will describe the most widely used mitigation strategies and the ways they are applied to the most common types of environmental hazards. The following section will describe the legal basis for hazard mitigation as it stands in the United States today. Problems in the adoption and implementation of mitigation policies will be described and some methods of addressing them will be offered. Finally, the chapter will conclude with as discussion of the relationship between hazard mitigation and sustainable development.
Introduction
As noted in Chapter 1, FEMA long ago adopted the conception of emergency management as four phases—mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Hazard mitigation takes place before disasters, along with emergency preparedness and recovery preparedness. This makes it important to coordinate mitigation with preparedness. Moreover, disasters provide opportunities to rebuild communities that are more resilient. This makes it important to integrate hazard mitigation into disaster recovery (Schwab, et al., 1998). FEMA’s (1999, p. 1-1) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Desk Reference defines mitigation as “any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards and their effects”. One limitation of this definition is its inclusion of a diverse set of activities that have only an indirect relationship to the reduction of disaster impacts. For example, FEMA’s independent study course on hazard mitigation (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1998a) lists emergency services and public information as mitigation measures along with more logical candidates such as flood control works, land use planning, and building codes. To overcome this limitation, Lindell and Perry (2000) defined hazard mitigation as preimpact
HAZARD MITIGATION
This chapter will explain what hazard mitigation is, and how it fits in with the other phases of emergency management. Next, the chapter will describe the most widely used mitigation strategies and the ways they are applied to the most common types of environmental hazards. The following section will describe the legal basis for hazard mitigation as it stands in the United States today. Problems in the adoption and implementation of mitigation policies will be described and some methods of addressing them will be offered. Finally, the chapter will conclude with as discussion of the relationship between hazard mitigation and sustainable development.
Introduction
As noted in Chapter 1, FEMA long ago adopted the conception of emergency management as four phases—mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Hazard mitigation takes place before disasters, along with emergency preparedness and recovery preparedness. This makes it important to coordinate mitigation with preparedness. Moreover, disasters provide opportunities to rebuild communities that are more resilient. This makes it important to integrate hazard mitigation into disaster recovery (Schwab, et al., 1998). FEMA’s (1999, p. 1-1) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Desk Reference defines mitigation as “any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards and their effects”. One limitation of this definition is its inclusion of a diverse set of activities that have only an indirect relationship to the reduction of disaster impacts. For example, FEMA’s independent study course on hazard mitigation (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1998a) lists emergency services and public information as mitigation measures along with more logical candidates such as flood control works, land use planning, and building codes. To overcome this limitation, Lindell and Perry (2000) defined hazard mitigation as preimpact