Island of Oahu’s Hazards
All communities around the world are at risk both from natural and manmade hazards. All states and territories in the US implement their own mitigation plans as mandated by the federal government. The State of Hawaii is an island chain that face many hazards both natural and manmade. The island of Oahu is where the state capital is and according to the 2013 Hawaii State Mitigation Plan, Oahu are prevalent to natural hazards to include tropical cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides and rock falls, floods, coastal erosion, droughts, volcanic hazards, and wildfires (Martin & Chock, Inc., 2013). Some of the man made hazards that the island of Oahu is prevalent to are hazardous materials and dam failures (Martin
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Hazards Suggested Mitigation Process
Tropical Cyclones Hurricane watches and warnings.
Purchase hurricane insurance to cover damage costs.
Update designs or upgrade critical infrastructures.
Tsunamis Establish effective evacuation mapping
Tsunami warnings, watches, and advisory.
Practice good tsunami forecasting to mitigate loss of life.
Earthquakes Abide the State Building Code
Retrofit structures particularly residential and pier homes
Landslides and Rock Falls Install mesh, net fences, and other preventative devices along coastal highways.
Floods Flood advisories such as flash flood watches, flash flood warning, and urban and small stream advisory.
Purchase flood insurance.
Abide the State’s Uniform Land Sales Practices Act (Martin & Chock, Inc., 2013).
Coastal Erosion Regularly conduct dune and beach maintenance.
Droughts Develop new or alternative water sources (Martin & Chock, Inc., 2013).
Practice conserving water.
Public education awareness and outreach.
Land-use planning ordinances.
Volcanic Hazards Utilize volcanic hazards warning and monitoring effectively.
Wildfires Use wildfire response
Form and train an in-house disaster response team. Create and maintain current building floor plans, with cutoff switches and valve locations. Keep a list of names, addresses, and home phone numbers of personnel with emergency responsibilities and the in-house disaster response team. Ascertain from local government emergency management officials how the public will be alerted about the various types of disasters, both natural and man-made, at home, schools, workplaces, and other locations. Identify the hazards that have occurred or may occur in your area and make specific plans for each potential hazard.
The mission is to minimize the threat of flood/tropical hazards to ensure the protection of life, property, and infrastructure.
Past development has left Lee County vulnerable to future hazards. All the planning in the world cannot address mother nature’s natural buffers to protect low-lying coastal areas. Builders throughout the state have created a primary concern for future hazards. Thus the reason for multiple agencies getting involved in the planning process in Lee County. The state of Florida highly suggest policies that limit expenditures in areas that have been impacted by past disaster events. This policy is the one policy that could have the most impact in areas like Lee County. The old saying goes, “when you keep doing the same thing over and over, you will get the same results.” By following the Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) and stopping residents or builders from developing in the impacted areas will prevent the hazard from affecting the people in that area. Furthermore, having the goals in place will help Lee County manage the disaster events and maintain a system that protects the population from injury from future risk (Schwab,
Holiday Cove’s mitigation plan will include monitoring of appropriate land use restrictions, responsible building codes, hardening of life line resources, as well as protecting against tourism loss revenue through beach erosion prevention techniques. This plan has an emphasis on hurricane and flooding damage as history has indicated this is the highest natural hazard our location must plan for.
Being prepared for a hurricane is not just the responsibility of first responders like firefighters, law enforcement, and EMS. An entire community from one individual or a family all the way up to state and federal government personnel need to work together and do their part and everybody has their own role to play. It is very important for communities to have strong collaborative planning teams. These teams are made up of governmental, nongovernmental, private, and public organizations and agencies that need to be integrated and share information and also trained together during the planning phase to increase the successfulness of the response to a disaster. Having educated and informed citizens is key for a prepared community, for example they can create evacuation and family reunification plans, compile disaster kits, and engage in trainings and neighborhood preparedness activities so that during an emergency they are able to help themselves, their families, neighbors, and friends. Another way to lessening the effects of a hurricane is to implement mitigation
Critical incidents require immediate action (Levinson & Granot, 2002). Additionally, they also require ongoing support in order to ensure that they are correctly managed and the long-term effects are mitigated (Schneid & Collins, 2001). Addressed here are four specific events - earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornados. There are ways to mitigate the damage of these events, and there are also ways to try to prepare for them. Additionally, the type of response to these events is important as is the recovery from them. For earthquakes, mitigation is limited. It is possible to build houses and buildings stronger and more able to withstand shaking, and in earthquake-prone areas the cabinets often have latches and large appliances are strapped to the wall (U.S., 2007). People who live there should also have emergency supplies of food and water, and should be prepared for an earthquake by knowing information about evacuation routes (U.S., 2007). The response to earthquakes and the recovery from them are usually strong, because the areas that are most prone are also most prepared. When an earthquake hits in an unusual area, however, it can take much longer to help people and to rebuild the infrastructure.
There are many similarities between the Big Island and Oahu including the vog, beaches, and that they are part of the Hawaiian Islands. Despite the vog originating from the Big Island, there is still vog that drifts off to Oahu. There’s so much vog that goes around the islands,
In order to survive during an earthquake, you must be very aware of how exactly to react and what to do in order to survive. The California Department of Public Health informs families to make a plan to evacuate their homes and find a safe place to go after the first sign of an earthquake (Earthquakes). This is the right thing to do, but people need to know where to go and how fast they need to act. Currently “California does not have an operational earthquake early warning system” (California Seismic Safety Commission) which could warn people when they need to evacuate before the earthquake even hits. I believe that the government of California needs to bring the early warning system back into their safety procedures. The government could also make clear where citizens from each county should go short term and long term in the case of an earthquake. Evacuation plans need to be made for when the earthquake is occurring when people need to find cover where nothing is going to fall on them. Plans for after the initial shaking need to be made as well, telling people to start heading inland toward surrounding states. This plan, however, requires the public to avoid driving over fault lines that could potentially move again. The San Andreas fault system is more than 800 miles long (Oskin), therefore people will need a set evacuation plan in order to know how to evacuate properly. The
and about 60 Japanese, (although it is tough to figure out how many Japanese), people
A local community that is at risk from natural disasters such as hurricane can utilize the National Preparedness System. The mission components of the National Preparedness System can serve as a valuable tool for local communities to determine proper allocation of resources such as evacuation efforts, education and training, and recovery efforts. The preparedness cycle is a valuable tool for a local community to prepare for incidents in a proactive and effective manner. The preparedness cycle consists of five steps: planning, organize/equip, train, exercise, and evaluate/improve. Using the combinations of the THIRA process, the National Preparedness System mission components, and the preparedness cycle, local communities across the nation will be able properly identify and assess threats/hazards, how to prioritize their resources
In attempt to provide background on the impacts of past natural disasters, condensed case studies of two major natural disasters are summarized, outlining the damage – both financial and physical. The aftermath of any natural disaster highlights the weaker areas of emergency management and as a result, the federal government has made significant efforts to strengthen those areas through preparedness and mitigation measures. Additionally, emphasis on mitigation and preparedness has increased following the vast number of natural disasters that the United States has endured, not only in the federal sector but also in the education and research sector. Today,
It is with the salient awareness of its susceptibility to hurricanes that the city of Mobile in Alabama initiates the development of hazard mitigation planning. The Mobile County Alabama Hurricanes Hazard mitigation plan is a multi-jurisdictional guide for the county of Mobile. Its communities and other stakeholders who are the vital players in their efforts to successfully prepare a plan that will act as a roadmap in responding to hurricane disasters. The plan addresses the hurricane hazard that is a major threat to the people, property and the infrastructure of Mobile County in Alabama. The plan focuses on hazard mitigation planning and actions necessary to reduce or eliminating long–term effects to people and their property as a result of the occurrence of hurricanes. The purpose of the mitigation plan is to ensure that the repetitive cycle is broken by producing less vulnerable conditions amongst the people, property and topographical features.
Risk for disasters is a part of life; emergency situations occur more frequently than many people believe. A wise person plans for the worse, and hopes for the best. After a disaster, how well a community can recover will depend largely on how well they prepared in advance. Risk management includes identifying any potential risks to a community and proactively planning to minimize the threat. Proactive organization of resources and people to respond to emergencies can mean the difference between a community’s ability to regroup and recover, and the loss of life. To better
The Topsham community in Portland, Maine pertinent risks and hazards will be discussed. It 's current state of readiness is exceptional. The purpose of the Topsham community Hazard Mitigation Plan is to provide a comprehensive set of guidelines for hazard response and mitigation in the community. The plan identifies potential risks with appropriate mitigation responses to significantly reduce loss of life, injuries, economic costs, and destruction of natural and cultural resources. As the occurrences of the hazards identified in this plan are unpredictable, the plan itself will continue to evolve and be evaluated. With this, the mitigation strategies and maintenance process will be labeled as ongoing. The mitigation strategies and maintenance of the plan provide direction for the future of mitigation activities within the state and the process will continue until changed for any valid reason. The community has made progress on
Actions taken to minimize adverse impact of disasters. These including structural measures like building of flood defences and non-structural measures like training etcetera. Public awareness related to disaster risk reduction, contribute in promoting a "culture of prevention" by changing attitudes. It revolves around civil institutions responsible to prevent disasters.