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41195

Natural hazard mitigation and the development of an approved plan for the city of Richland, Washington

• Each year, natural disasters exact a terrible toll of death and property destruction throughout the world. In the 1990s a concerted effort was put forward internationally to focus effort on the development of mitigation strategies to eliminate or reduce the impact of natural disasters. Under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and amendments the federal government implemented programs designed to get local government proactively assessing their community's risks and vulnerability to natural events. Through this analysis the community was to prioritize mitigation strategies to eliminate or reduce risk by education, engineering, enforcement, economic incentive, and emergency response programs and projects. The problem was the City of Richland did not have a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (NHMP). The purpose of this project was to describe hazard mitigation, identify the requirements for a FEMA approved NHMP, and identify the inputs from Richland Fire and Emergency Services. The study utilized the descriptive method of research. Some elements of historical and action research were also utilized. The following questions were answered: 1. What is hazard mitigation planning? 2. What is needed to have a NHMP approved by FEMA? 3. Why does a local jurisdiction need a NHMP? 4. What risk assessment and mitigation strategy elements require input from Richland Fire and Emergency Services during the development of the plan? The procedures involved in an extensive literature review with careful analysis of case studies and local stakeholder input to develop a NHMP. The Fire Department played a key role in the development of the plan. The results showed that a fire department should be involved in the multi-hazard aspects of the NHMP, contribute to the wildfire proportion, and gain significant community equity in the process. The continued commitment to hazard mitigation is recommended for Richland Fire and Emergency Services and the City of Richland. Further it is recommended that the National Fire Academy include discussion of the National Hazard Mitigation Plan process in the Leading Community Risk Reduction course. As other departments become involved in the development, implementation, evaluation, and refinement of their community's NHMP our industry database of the broader risk and mitigation trends, issues and events could be shared.

• c.1: DOCUMENT ROOM - ROOM 209 [Status: IN]