2015AllͲHazardsMitigationPlan Update for NewCastleCounty,Delaware (includesmunicipalitiesandtheUniversityofDelaware) Prepared for: Prepared by: New Castle County Office of Emergency Vision Planning and Consulting, LLC Management 7572 Morris Street NCC Dept. of Public Safety Fulton, MD 20759 3601 N. DuPont Hwy, New Castle, DE 19720 February 2015 T ABLE OF C ONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Background 1 1.3 Purpose 3 1.4 Scope 4 1.5 Authority 5 1.6 Organization of the Plan 5 2. P LANNING P ROCESS 2.1 Introduction 6 2.2 Overview of Hazard Mitigation Planning 6 2.3 Preparing the Plan 7 2.4 Hazard Mitigation Steering Committee 8 2.5 Community Meetings and Workshops 10 2.6 Involving the Public 13 2.7 Involving Stakeholders 14 2.8 Multi-jurisdictional Participation 16 3. C OMMUNITY P ROFILE 3.1 Introduction 18 3.2 Geography and the Environment 18 3.3 Population and Demographics 19 3.4 Housing, Infrastructure and Land Use 20 3.5 Employment and Industry 22 3.6 Disaster Declarations 24 4.1 H AZARD IDENTIFICATION 4.1.1 Introduction 26 4.1.2 Flood 27 4.1.3 Hurricanes and Coastal Storms 29 T ABLE OF C ONTENTS 4.1.4 Severe Thunderstorms and Tornadoes 34 4.1.5 Wildfire 40 4.1.6 Drought/Extreme Heat 41 4.1.7 Hail 43 4.1.8 Winter Storms and Freezes 44 4.1.9 Erosion 44 4.1.10 Dam/Levee Failure 45 4.1.11 Earthquakes, Sinkholes and Landslides 46 4.1.12 Tsunami 52 4.1.13 Volcanoes 53 4.1.14 Terrorism 54 4.1.15 Contamination 54 4.1.16 Energy Release 55 4.1.17 Disruption of Service 55 4.1.18 Weapons of Mass Destruction 55 4.1.19 Hazardous Materials (HazMat) 56 4.1.20 Energy Pipeline Failure 56 4.2 H AZARD A NALYSIS 4.2.1 Introduction 59 4.2.2 Flood 60 4.2.3 Hurricanes and Tropical Storms 68 4.2.4 Thunderstorms 73 4.2.5 Tornadoes 78 4.2.6 Wildfire 81 4.2.7 Drought 81 4.2.8 Extreme Temperature 81 4.2.9 Hail 83 4.2.10 Winter Storms 86 4.2.11 Coastal Erosion 89 4.2.12 Dam/Levee Failure 90 4.2.13 Earthquakes 92 4.2.14 Landslides and Sinkholes 94 T ABLE OF C ONTENTS 4.2.15 Tsunami 94 4.2.16 Volcanoes 94 4.2.17 Terrorism 94 4.2.18 Hazardous Materials (HazMat) 95 4.2.19 Energy Pipeline Failure 95 4.2.20 Probability of Future Events in New Castle County 95 4.2.21 University of Delaware Hazard Analysis Summary 95 4.3 V ULNERABILITY A SSESSMENT 4.3.1 Introduction 98 4.3.2 Explanation of HAZUS-MH Risk Assessment Methodology 98 4.3.3 Explanation of Regional Vulnerability Assessment Methodology 99 5. C APABILITY A SSESSMENT 5.1 Introduction 148 5.2 What is a Municipal Capability Assessment? 148 5.3 Capability Assessment Update 149 5.4 Capability Assessment Findings 149 5.5 Conclusions on Local Capability 166 5.6 Document Review 168 6.1 M ITIGATION S TRATEGY 6.1.1 Update Process Summary 196 6.1.2 Introduction 196 6.1.3 Mission Statement 197 6.1.4 Mitigation Goals 197 6.1.5 Identification and Analysis of Mitigation Measures 199 6.1.6 Mitigation Techniques in the New Castle Planning Area 201 T ABLE OF C ONTENTS 6.2 LOCALLY- SPECIFIC M ITIGATION A CTIONS 6.2.1 Introduction 203 6.2.2 Review of Current and Completed Hazard Mitigation Actions 203 6.2.3 Prioritization 218 6.2.4 Mitigation Action Plan 230 7. P LAN M AINTENANCE P ROCEDURES 7.1 Introduction 285 7.2 Implementation 285 7.3 Evaluation and Enhancement 286 7.4 Continued Public Involvement 287 8. A PPENDIX All Hazard Mitigation Plan – Acknowledgements STATE OF DELAWARE James E. Turner, III, Director, Delaware Emergency Management Agency David Carlson, Planner, Delaware Emergency Management Agency Michael Powell, DNREC, State NFIP Coordinator Mark Seifert, University of Delaware Public Safety NEW CASTLE COUNTY Thomas P. Gordon, County Executive Joseph Bryant, Jr., Director of Public Safety Dave Carpenter, Jr., Coordinator of Emergency Management John Gysling, Land Use Floodplain Manager CITY OF WILMINGTON George Giles, Emergency Management Director MAYORS Delaware City – Stanley E. Green Elsmere – Steven Burg Middletown – Kenneth L. Branner, Jr. New Castle – Donald A. Reese Newark – Polly Sierer Newport – Michael Spencer Odessa – Kathleen H. Harvey Townsend – Jermaine D. Hatton Wilmington – Dennis P. Williams 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction In an effort to reduce the Nation's mounting losses from natural disasters, the United States Congress passed the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) to provide new and revitalized approaches to mitigation planning. Section 322 of DMA 2000 emphasizes the need for state and local entities to closely coordinate mitigation planning and makes the development of a hazard mitigation plan a specific eligibility requirement for any local government applying for Federal mitigation grant funds. These funds include the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and the newly created Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program, both of which are administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Communities with an adopted and Federally approved hazard mitigation plan thereby become pre-positioned and more apt to receive available mitigation funds before and after the next disaster strikes. This 2015 Plan Update is conducted in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) to ensure that it meets all applicable DMA 2000 planning requirements. A Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, located in this document, provides a summary of FEMA’s current minimum standards of acceptability and notes the location within the Plan where each planning requirement is met. This Chapter provides a general introduction to the 2015 New Castle County Multi-jurisdictional All Hazard Mitigation Plan Update. It is comprised of the following sections: Background, Purpose, Scope, Authority, and Organization of the Plan. 1.2 Background The occurrence of natural hazards, such as floods, tornadoes and severe winter storms is inevitable, and while there is little that can be done to control their force and intensity, a lot can be done to be better prepared to face these hazards. New Castle County is vulnerable to a wide range of natural hazards, including flooding, tornadoes, tropical storms and hurricanes, and winterstorms. It is also vulnerable to a variety of human- caused hazards, including chemical releases, spills or explosions associated with the fixed storage or mobile transport of hazardous materials. These hazards threaten the life and safety of county residents, and have the potential to damage or destroy both public and private property and disrupt the local economy and overall quality of life. While the threat from hazardous events can never be fully eliminated, there is much we can do to lessen their potential impact upon our community and our citizens. By minimizing the impact of hazards upon our built environment, we can prevent such events from becoming disasters. The concept and practice of reducing risks to people and property from known hazards is generally referred to as hazard mitigation. Hazard Mitigation is defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as “sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to Chapter 1: Page 1 I NTRODUCTION 2015 NEW C ASTLE C OUNTY H AZARD M ITIGATION P LAN U PDATE people and property from hazards and their effects”. The hazard mitigation planning process involves the coordination of actions taken to reduce injuries, deaths, property damage, economic losses, and degradation of natural resources caused by natural and man-made disasters. Hazard mitigation is one of four phases in the emergency management cycle. Others include: emergency preparedness, emergency response, and recovery. x Hazard mitigation activities involve actions that reduce or eliminate the probability of an occurrence or reduce the impact of a disaster. The goal of the mitigation phase is to make communities more resistant to disasters and thereby decrease the need for a response. Mitigation planning occurs long before a disaster occurs. x Preparedness activities include planning and preparing for when a disaster strikes and includes response capability actions to ensure an effective and efficient use of resources and efforts to minimize damage. Preparedness occurs just before a disaster occurs. x Emergency response activities include providing emergency assistance to victims and minimizing property loss. The response phase begins during or immediately after the onset of a disaster occurs. x Recovery activities include short- and long-term activities that help return individuals and communities to normalcy as soon as possible. Recovery actions involve clean-up efforts, temporary housing, and replacement of infrastructure. Recovery activities typically commence several days or weeks after a disaster occurs and are long-term in nature. Hazard mitigation techniques include both structural measures, such as strengthening or protecting buildings and infrastructure from the destructive forces of potential hazards, and non-structural measures, such as the adoption of sound land use policies and the creation of public awareness programs. It is widely accepted that the most effective mitigation measures are implemented at the local government level, where decisions on the regulation and control of development are ultimately made. A comprehensive mitigation approach addresses past and future hazard vulnerabilities, making it essential for future growth to take place in a manner that decreases a community’s overall hazard vulnerability. One of the most effective means that a community can implement a comprehensive approach to hazard mitigation is to develop, adopt, and update a local hazard mitigation plan. A mitigation plan establishes the broad community vision and guiding principles for reducing hazard risk, and proposes specific mitigation actions to eliminate or reduce identified vulnerabilities.