Hazard mitigation plan sets priorities
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 6:46 PM
The City of Forest Hills Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan debuted at a public meeting August 18.
The City introduced its hazard mitigation plan at a public meeting August 18.
Developed by AMEC, the plan will help Forest Hills reduce or eliminate long-term risk to residents and property and future losses to the City from natural hazards.
Having a plan in place makes Forest Hills eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Assistance programs.
The City’s Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee conducted a risk assessment that identified and profiled hazards, assessed the City’s vulnerability to these hazards, and examined the capabilities in place to mitigate them.
The plan addressed four goals for the City:
- Reduce the risk of natural hazards to the people, property, and environment
- Improve the capabilities of the City to mitigate natural hazards and reduce exposure
- Promote effective training and educational opportunities
- Implement the mitigation actions identified in the plan
The plan has been adopted by the Board of Commissioners and will be updated within five years. It recommends 15 mitigation actions, summarized below.
15 priorities for reducing risks and losses to Forest Hills
High Priority- Publish information on the availability of severe weather alerts through new and innovative ways, such as text messaging, email, and mobile-enabled webpages. Severe Weather, Flood
- Develop a comprehensive public education program for the natural hazards and risk identified in the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. Multi-Hazard
- Publish information on streets currently designated as priority for snow removal and evacuation. Winter Storms, Landslides
- Coordinate with Metropolitan-Nashville Davidson County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) for inclusion of the City of Forest Hills in the Emergency Operations Plan. Multi-Hazard
- Identify and prioritize, as applicable, capital improvement projects to address stormwater infrastructure deficiencies and/or problem areas. Flood
- Develop sheltering plan for severe weather hazards through coordination with OEM and Red Cross, including capability of new City Hall to serve as shelter. Multi-Hazard
Medium Priority
- Update vulnerability assessment for breach of Radnor Lake dam based upon the inundation profile in the USACE 1989 study and updated topography and parcel information for the City of Forest Hills. Dam Failure
- Identify areas not currently within storm siren coverage and potential locations for additional sirens. Severe Weather
- Strengthen communication with neighboring communities. Multi-Hazard
Low Priority
- Implement contingency communications plan. Multi-Hazard
- Promote safe rooms for individual residences. Severe Weather
- Implement and enforce hillside protection component of zoning ordinance. Landslides
- Participate in the floodplain map modernization process with Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County. Flood
- Distribute National Flood Insurance Program information. Flood
- Coordinate annual meetings of the City of Forest Hills Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee to monitor, evaluate, and update the multi-hazard mitigation plan. Multi-Hazard
Hazard mitigation plan needs input from public
The City’s Hazard Mitigation Committee continues to work through the steps of developing a standardized plan to mitigate the impact of future disasters, with the help of AMEC representative Cindy Popplewell.
Local governments are required by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 to adopt a hazard mitigation plan for dealing with natural disasters in order to maintain eligibility for mitigation funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
This planning process is structured around four phases:
- Phase 1: Organize resources.
- Phase 2: Assess risks.
- Phase 3: Develop a mitigation plan.
- Phase 4: Implement the plan and monitor progress.
The team has identified potential hazards in Forest Hills and created profiles of the potential impact of those disasters. The profile includes where the hazard has occurred previously and where it is likely to occur in the future.
The magnitude of the impact of a hazard event is related directly to the vulnerability of the people, property, and the environment it affects. The hazards in the box at right were identified for Forest Hills.
A vulnerability assessment will be conducted for each hazard having a high planning importance. The assessment will look at critical facilities and structures located in an affected area and determine the number of people in the area and the potential property damage.
The goal is to minimize damage from a disaster by identifying and fortifying areas of vulnerability.
The ultimate goal of this planning process is implementation of mitigation actions that will prevent or lessen the impacts of hazards to people and property in your community.
