Question

1.What do you feel are the most significant initial considerations in determining a community's vulnerability to natural hazards?

2. Is it important to determine the asset inventory of your community to develop a mitigation plan?

3. What are some of the most important assets to be considered in comprising the plan?

Answer 1

1. The concept of vulnerability encompasses a variety of definitions. In general, vulnerability means the potential to be harmed. Vulnerability to natural hazards is thus the potential to be harmed by natural hazards. Some people and places are more vulnerable to certain hazards than other people and places. While any one extreme event may be unusual, there are broad trends in natural hazards. These trends are due to characteristics of both natural systems and human systems. By characterizing these trends, we can understand who and what is vulnerable and in what ways they are vulnerable. This, in turn, helps us reduce vulnerability and, when extreme events occur, reduce the damage. This work saves lives, and much more.

Human Factors- The severity of a disaster depends on both the physical nature of the extreme event and the social nature of the human populations affected by the event. Here are some important human factors that tend to influence disaster severity. A core point here is that different people, even within the same region, have different vulnerability to natural hazards.

Wealth. Wealth is one of the most important human factors in vulnerability. Wealth affects vulnerability in several ways. The poor are less able to afford housing and other infrastructure that can withstand extreme events. They are less able to purchase resources needed for disaster response and are less likely to have insurance policies that can contribute.

Education. Education is another important factor in hazard impacts. With education, we can learn how to avoid or reduce many impacts. When populations are literate, then written messages can be used to spread word about hazards in general or about specific disasters.

Governance. The nature of both formal governments and informal governance in a population is another important factor. Governments can advance policies that reduce vulnerability. They can establish agencies tasked with reducing vulnerability, such as FEMA in the United States. They can support education and awareness efforts, as well as economic development to reduce poverty.

Technology. The capabilities of the available technology can also play a large role in disasters. Technology can improve our ability to forecast extreme events, withstand the impacts of the events, and recover afterward. Technology is closely tied to wealth, education, and governance. Wealthier, more educated societies are more likely to have more advanced technology.

2. Assets are defined broadly to include anything that is important to the character and function. Although all assets may be affected by hazards, some assets are more vulnerable because of their physical characteristics or socioeconomic uses. The purpose of an asset inventory is to identify specific vulnerable assets in your community. When updating a mitigation plan, the planning team will update the asset inventory to reflect current conditions.

3. Some of the most important assets to be considered in comprising the plan are:

People- People are your most important asset. The risk assessment should identify areas of greater population density as well as populations that may have unique vulnerabilities. Most hazard mitigation plans focus on physical vulnerability, that is, the risks hazards pose to structures such as houses, apartments, schools, hospitals and infrastructure. However, certain populations or groups may be especially vulnerable to disasters due to age, poverty, race, disability or language barriers. These socially vulnerable populations often face greater challenges preparing for, coping with and recovering from disasters. Hazard mitigation plans should address both physical and social vulnerability

Economy- After a disaster, economic resiliency drives recovery. Every community has specific economic drivers that are important to understand when planning to reduce the impacts of hazards and disasters to the local economy. Economic assets can be described in terms of direct or indirect losses; for example, building or inventory damage is direct, but functional downtime and loss of employment wages are indirect losses that can be calculated. In addition to the primary economic sectors in the community, such as manufacturing, agricultural, or service sectors, major employers and commercial centers also support the local economy.

Built Environment- The built environment includes existing structures, infrastructure systems, critical facilities, and cultural resources. Areas of future growth and development are also an important component when assessing the building environment.

Cultural resources. This inventory should also include cultural and historic assets that are unique or irreplaceable. Museums, unique geological sites, concert halls, parks, stadiums, or any asset that is important to the community can be considered a cultural resource.

Future development. An effective way to reduce future losses in your community is to avoid development in known hazard areas and to enforce the development of safe structures in other areas. In other words, keep people, businesses, and buildings out of harm’s way from the beginning. The plan should provide a general description of community land uses and development trends so that mitigation options can be considered in future land use decisions to ensure safe development. Local comprehensive or master plans may have information on future land use and build-out scenarios.