Whatcom County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan
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Whatcom County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan A MULTI-HAZARD, MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL PLAN DEVELOPED FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL CITIZENS AND GOVERNMENTAL JURISDICTIONS WITHIN WHATCOM COUNTY Prepared by: Whatcom County Division of Emergency Management and Anchor QEA, LLC Approved: August 23, 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 1 WHATCOM COUNTY BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................... 2 SECTION 1. ‐ PLAN PROCESS AND DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................ 8 FEDERAL REGULATIONS ................................................................................................................................................... 9 PLAN OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................................................................... 10 NATURAL HAZARDS MITIGATION PLANNING ...................................................................................................................... 13 2010 PLAN UPDATE TIMELINE ....................................................................................................................................... 16 SECTION 2. ‐ HAZARD SUMMARIES .................................................................................................................... 20 EARTHQUAKES ............................................................................................................................................................. 21 FLOODING .................................................................................................................................................................. 28 GEOLOGIC HAZARDS ..................................................................................................................................................... 51 SEVERE STORMS .......................................................................................................................................................... 68 TSUNAMIS .................................................................................................................................................................. 72 VOLCANOES ................................................................................................................................................................ 77 WILDLAND FIRES .......................................................................................................................................................... 85 SECTION 3. JURISDICTION OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................... 92 CITY OF BELLINGHAM .................................................................................................................................................... 98 PORT OF BELLINGHAM ................................................................................................................................................ 111 CITY OF BLAINE .......................................................................................................................................................... 116 CITY OF EVERSON ....................................................................................................................................................... 126 CITY OF FERNDALE ...................................................................................................................................................... 135 FIRE DISTRICT #11 (COMMUNITY OF LUMMI ISLAND) ....................................................................................................... 149 CITY OF LYNDEN ......................................................................................................................................................... 158 MERIDIAN SCHOOL DISTRICT ........................................................................................................................................ 167 CITY OF NOOKSACK ..................................................................................................................................................... 170 CITY OF SUMAS .......................................................................................................................................................... 178 WHATCOM COUNTY ................................................................................................................................................... 187 WHATCOM COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL ZONE DISTRICT ...................................................................................................... 196 LAKE WHATCOM WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT ............................................................................................................... 202 SECTION 4. PLAN MAINTENANCE .................................................................................................................... 207 APPENDIX A ‐ CAPABILITIES IDENTIFICATION ....................................................................................................... 1 APPENDIX B ‐ LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................... 1 APPENDIX C ‐ WHATCOM COUNTY HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS .............................. 1 APPENDIX D ‐ WHATCOM COUNTY RISK ASSESSMENT & MITIGATION STRATEGIES FOR WILDLAND FIRE ............. 1 APPENDIX E ‐ 2004 PLAN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS .............................................................................................. 1 APPENDIX F ‐ NFIP ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Special Thanks and Acknowledgments Special thanks to: Doug Dahl Deputy Director, Whatcom County Department of Emergency Management Ken Richardson Program Specialist, Whatcom County Department of Emergency Management Paula Cooper Manager, Whatcom County Public Works River and Flood Division Andy Day Manager, City of Bellingham Office of Emergency Management Geographic Information Systems Maps: Summit GIS developed all of the maps for the July 2004 version of the Whatcom County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan, which were updated for the 2010 version by Whatcom County Planning and Development Services Geographical Information Systems (GIS) services, unless indicated otherwise. The datasets used in the maps in this Plan were from the following sources: Washington Department of Natural Resources – Hydro information, Fire Hazard and History data Federal Emergency Management Agency – Floodplain Boundaries National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Tsunami Grids U.S. Geological Society – Volcano Lahar and Blast Zone Boundaries Whatcom County Planning and Development Services – City Limits, County Boundaries, Geologic Hazards Railroads, Roads Funding Acknowledgements: Whatcom County contracted with Anchor QEA, LLC, to develop the 2010 Whatcom County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. Funding for this project was made possible through a Federal Grant. Note of Recognition: We would like to include a special thanks to the late Joe Bates, Communications and Information Coordinator of Whatcom County, for his involvement in the development of this Plan and his dedication and service to the residents of Whatcom County. This Plan Is Adopted By: Entity Approving Authority Date Adopted Ordinance City of Bellingham Dan Pike 09/12/2011 2011 - 19 Port of Bellingham Charlie Sheldon 10/18/2011 1302 City of Blaine Gary Tomsic 10/10/2011 1591 - 11 City of Everson John Perry 09/13/2011 507 - 11 City of Ferndale Gary Jensen 09/06//2011 11 – 09 – 06 - C Meridian School District Dr. Timothy Yeomans 09/26/2011 28 - 11 Whatcom County Fire District #11 Duncan McLane 09/13/2011 2011 - 208 (Community of Lummi Island) City of Lynden Scott Korthuis 09/19/2011 850 City of Nooksack Jim Ackerman 12/06/2010 276 City of Sumas Robert Bromley 09/12/2011 270 Whatcom County Pete Kremen 09/27/2011 2011 - 030 Whatcom County Flood Control Pete Kremen 09/27/2011 2011 - 031 Zone District Lake Whatcom Water & Sewer Patrick Sorensen 09/26/2011 776 District Introduction In 2004, Whatcom County’s Division of Emergency Management (DEM) undertook the process of writing a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan to identify natural hazards present in the County and to protect the citizens and resources living there. This version of the Whatcom County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan (cited herein as “Plan”) is the second edition of the Plan, revised in 2010. The natural hazards mitigation process was instigated by the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) 201.6 (see Appendix A), enacted in October 2002 and amended in September 2004. The purpose of the Plan is to facilitate a net reduction in the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable mitigation measures to be implemented during immediate recovery from a disaster. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), hazard mitigation planning is an important aspect of a successful mitigation program. States and communities use the hazard mitigation planning process to set short- and long-range mitigation goals and objectives. Hazard mitigation planning is a