PRESS RELEASE
For
Immediate Release
For more information, contact Larry McDonald at 850-595-8910 Ext. 204
Mitigation Initiative Challenges County, Cities to
Think Ahead About Natural Disasters and Damages
“The task is large,” said Larry
McDonald of the West Florida Regional Planning Council which serves as staff to
The challenge is being created by
new federal legislation that requires substantial updates to existing LMS
plans. Fortunately,
DMA2K, or the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, is requiring all local governments across the nation to either implement or revise plans that examine a variety of natural hazards, vulnerability, and solutions to locations that receive or may receive damage following a natural disaster.
The existing LMS plan already identifies many common natural hazards and contains a “prioritization list” of potential projects that should be considered when post-disaster funding is available.
Following a disaster such as a hurricane or flood, a presidential disaster may be declared. Funds have been made available based upon an area receiving such a declaration. This has been provided in a post-disaster manner. Damages received have been repaired, or perhaps mitigated (repaired or constructed so it would not be damaged again) on occasion, and the community has moved on.
FEMA is now focusing on providing pre-disaster instead of post-disaster mitigation funds.
“When we think about pre-disaster mitigation, we take a comprehensive look at the entire community before a disaster occurs,” says McDonald. “We attempt to find all essential infrastructure that can help a community recover from the destruction of a hurricane or flood. We also take a look at neighborhoods, business districts, and other locations and see how vulnerable they may be to natural disasters.”
Once those resources and areas are identified in detail, mitigation initiatives can be proposed and placed on the “prioritization list.”
A strong public participation component is built in to the DMA2K legislation. Public input is strongly encouraged. This includes citizens, businesses, non-profit agencies, and local government operations. Without public input, the plan is much less comprehensive. And in the end, dollars may be at stake for otherwise good projects.
According to McDonald, FEMA is rapidly heading towards a “fix it or forget it” financial philosophy and policy following disasters. In the past, FEMA, state and local governments have pumped sometimes millions of dollars in recovery funds to repair damages, only to have the same type of damage happen again after the next disaster.
The federal and Florida governments are now relying heavily on local governments and citizens to locally identify their hazards and potential for loss, and to fix these problems ahead of disaster using federal, but competitive, pre-disaster mitigation, or PDM, funds.
The LMS Committee and staff are focusing on traditional disasters along with a more thorough evaluation of lesser-known hazards that could cause problems. Hurricanes, storm surge, floods and severe weather are well known factors in disaster planning in the area. However, wildfire and some other natural hazards have been identified to be included in the new plan. The major challenge faced by the LMS Committee will be to identify the infrastructure and buildings in these hazard areas, determine the potential risk for disaster, and assign an estimated value to the potential for loss. Computer programs will help in determining where buildings, infrastructure, and natural hazards co-exist.
To be eligible for PDM funds, a potential project must be on the prioritization list. The applicant must also be an active and participating member of the LMS Committee.
“Mitigation just got serious,” comments McDonald. “Those who believe they can simply apply for PDM funds and not participate on LMS Committees or be a part of the overall decision-making process for a community as a whole will likely be ineligible for the grant or will score low.”
Eligibility for PDM grants will be based, among other things, upon attendance and participation of local governments and non-profits. Citizens and businesses desiring disaster relief through mitigation initiatives will need to understand the importance of getting to know the LMS Committee and its members.
Ms. Paula Davis, Grants Coordinator
for the Santa Rosa County Board of
Ms. Davis encourages participation
from throughout
The next meeting of the Santa Rosa
County LMS Committee is set for Wednesday, October 8 at