Strategy for Reducing Risks from Natural Hazards in North Kingstown, Rhode Island
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Strategy for Reducing Risks From Natural Hazards in North Kingstown, Rhode Island A Multi-Hazard Mitigation Strategy 2019 5-Year Update Strategy for Reducing Risks from Natural Hazards in North Kingstown, RI Table of Contents Executive Summary 6 Plan Format 7 Scope of Plan 7 Goal Statement 8 Section 1. 0 Introduction 9 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) Section 2 .0 North Kingstown Profile 11 2.1 Location & Geography 2.2 Demographics & Housing 2.3 General Land Use/ Development Patterns 2.4 Infrastructure 2.5 Open Space Section 3.0 Planning Process 16 3.1 Public Engagement & Outreach 3.2 Developing & Updating Mitigation Strategies Section 4.0 Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment 25 4.1 Hazard Profiles 4.2 Wind Related Hazards 27 4.2.1 Storm Surge 4.2.2 Hurricane 4.2.3 Tornadoes 4.2.4 High Wind & Thunderstorms 4.3 Winter Related Hazards 44 4.3.1 Snow 4.3.2 Ice Storms 4.3.3 Extreme Cold 4.4 Flood Related Hazards 52 4.4.1 Riverine Flooding 4.4.2 Flash Flooding 4.4.3Urban/Stormwater Flooding 4.4.4 Coastal Flooding 4.4.5 Sea Level Rise & Climate Change 4.4.6 Coastal Erosion 4.4.7 Dam Breach 4.5 Geological Related Hazards 76 4.5.1 Earthquake 4.6 Additional Hazards 80 4.6.1 Wildfire 4.6.2 Drought & Extreme Heat 2 4.7 Summary of Hazards 88 4.8 Vulnerability 90 4.8.1 Community Assets (Exposure to Loss) 4.8.2 Critical facilities 4.8.3 Natural Resources 4.8.4 Shelters & Evacuation Routes 4.8.5 Coordination with Neighboring Municipalities 4.9 Risk Analysis 98 Section 5.0 Mitigation Actions 107 5.1 Existing Hazard Mitigation Activities and Town Capabilities 107 5.2 Action Plan- Updated Actions 113 Section 6.0 – Implementation 124 6.1 Monitoring, Evaluation, and Updates 125 6.2 Conclusion 126 References 128 List of Appendices Appendix A: 2005 Plan Actions and Status 130 Appendix B: Glossary of Terms 133 Appendix C: RI State Interagency Hazard Mitigation Committee 142 Appendix D: Technical & Financial Assistance for Mitigation 144 Appendix E: Existing Protection Systems 150 Appendix F: Past Newspaper Articles 154 Appendix G: Public Outreach 166 Appendix H: List of Grants & Awards for Resilience Planning in North Kingstown 174 Appendix I: SLR- Phase I Maps 175 Appendix J: Climate Adaptation Plan, 2014: SLR Maps for Wickford 177 Appendix K: Photographs of Flooding in North Kingstown 183 Appendix L: Agenda Item and Advertisement for Town Council Hearing 186 List of Figures & Tables Table 1: Hazard Profile from SHMP 26 Table 2: Hurricane Category Class 32 Table 3: RI Historic Wind and Hail Incidents 1950-2011 42 Table 4: Significant NCEI Hail, Lightning, and Wind Events 43 Table 5: Winter Storm Events 48 Table 6: RIDEM 2016 Dam Safety Annual Report - North Kingstown 73 Table 7: Earthquakes in Rhode Island 1766-2016 77 3 Strategy for Reducing Risks from Natural Hazards in North Kingstown, RI Table 8: Historical Droughts 85 Table 9: Past Natural Hazard Events in North Kingstown 89 Table 10: Risk Assessment Analysis & Assessment Matrix 98 Table 11: National Flood Insurance Program 112 Table 12: Exposed Assets 113 Table 13: Hazard Mitigation Updated Goals and Actions 116 Figure 1: North Kingstown Location Maps 12 Figure 2: Total Permits issued from Building Inspectors office since 2011 14 Figure 3: FEMA Safe Room Design Wind Speed Zone for the United States 28 Figure 4: The Population of Washington County & Major Hurricane Strikes 37 Figure 5: Fujita Scale 39 Figure 6: Rhode Island Historic Wind and Hail Incidents 43 Figure 7: RI Winter Storm Average Annual Snowfall 45 Figure 8: Average Annual North Kingstown Snowfall 47 Figure 9: Historic and Projected Sea Level Rise 67 Figure 10: Shoreline Change 1939-2014 Wickford 69 Figure 11: Shoreline Change 1939-2014 North Kingstown Town Beach 70 Figure 12: Dams in North Kingstown 72 Figure 13: NCEI Dam Breach Hazard Ranking 75 Figure 14: Richter Scale 76 Figure 15: Future Heat Events and Social Vulnerability in Washington County 87 List of Maps Map 1: Wickford Area Storm Surge 30 Map 2: Historical Storm Tracks 35 Map 3: Worst Hurricane Scenario 36 Map 4: Risks Areas in North Kingstown 59 Map 5: Known Flood Hazards in North Kingstown 60 Map 6: Earthquake Epicenters near R.I (1568- 2013) 78 Map 7: USGS Seismic Hazards Map 79 Map 8: Natural Habitats in North Kingstown 81 Map 9: Critical Facilities in North Kingstown 93 Map 10: Hurricane Evacuation Zones 96 4 Acknowledgements Gina Raimondo Governor Marc R. Pappas Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency Director Greg Mancini North Kingstown Town Council President Ralph Mollis Town Manager Authors North Kingstown Rhode Island Hazard Mitigation Committee Emergency Management Agency Ralph Mollis*, Town Manager Melinda Hopkins Nicole LaFontaine, Director of Planning Joe Dwyer Maura Harrington, Supervising Planner Rebecca Lamond*, Principal Planner Donald Peck*, Building Official Adam White*, Director, Public Works Teresa Crean, URI Coastal Resource Center and Rhode Island Sea Grant Scott Kettelle*, Chief, Fire Department Patrick Flanagan* Chief, Police Department David Murray*, Emergency Management Director Kristin Urbach, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce Steve King*, Quonset Development Corporation Jim Broccoli, Harbor Master Jennifer Fairbank, South County Nursing Center Martin Mendelson*, Amateur Radio Maps Roland Duhaime, URI Environmental Data Center North Kingstown Planning Department Additional Acknowledgements URI Staff • Town resident 5 Strategy for Reducing Risks from Natural Hazards in North Kingstown, RI Executive Summary Purpose: This plan will update the adopted 2005 Hazard Mitigation Plan and recommends updated objectives and actions for the Town of North Kingstown to minimize the social and economic loss and disruption associated with natural hazard events. This plan will address the capability of North Kingstown to reduce the vulnerability of our community to these natural hazards and will provide comprehensive guidance for hazard mitigation in the town of North Kingstown. Hazard mitigation is an ongoing process that requires continued implementation, evaluation, and revision. This plan identifies goals, objectives and recommended actions for both short-term and long- term hazard mitigation with an intention to preserve and enhance the safety, quality of life, and natural resources of North Kingstown. This Plan serves the people of North Kingstown by providing the impetus for making homes, businesses and communities more resilient to the impacts of hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, winter storms, wildfires and other natural hazards. A major update to this Plan from the 2005 plan is that it addresses adaptation to climate change and projected sea-level rise scenarios in North Kingstown. Much of this information was made available from recent partnership work as part of a pilot project with the University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center and the RI Sea Grant to study climate change and sea level rise. (RISG) This document should be referenced as: Strategy for Reducing Risks from Natural Hazards in North Kingstown, Rhode Island: A Multi-Hazard Mitigation Strategy 2019. This document is available electronically at www.northkingstown.org. 6 Plan Format The North Kingstown Plan is divided into the following six (6) sections followed by Appendices. Section 1: Introduces the reader to the plan. Section 2: Provides the reader with a profile of North Kingstown. Section 3: Provides an overview of the planning process, including stakeholders who participated in the process and key planning steps. Section 4: Presents the reader with the hazard identification and risk assessment that includes hazard descriptions & vulnerabilities with a capability assessment of North Kingstown, including resources and assistance that can be used for mitigation activities. Section 5: Highlights the hazard mitigation goals, objectives and recommended actions for the Town of North Kingstown that will reduce injury and damage from natural hazards for the reader. Section 6: Outlines the implementation of the Plan and processes for updating the Plan for the reader. Mitigation Plan is divided up into seven (7) Sections followed by Appendices Scope of the Plan The Plan addresses all-natural hazards which pose significant risks to North Kingstown. Each hazard has been assessed using the same methodology, and information including the historical significance, vulnerability, exposure and potential losses, as available, for all hazards identified in the Plan. The following types of hazards are analyzed and discussed in the Plan: Wind Related Winter Flood Related Geological Additional Hazards Related Hazards Related Hazards Hazards Hazards Storm Surge Snow Riverine Earthquakes Wildfire Flooding Hurricanes Ice Flash Flooding Drought Tornadoes Extreme Cold Urban Flooding Extreme Heat High Winds Coastal Flooding Climate Change and Seal Level Rise Coastal Erosion Dam Breach 7 Strategy for Reducing Risks from Natural Hazards in North Kingstown, RI More information about these hazards and the potential impacts to North Kingstown and critical facilities can be found in Section 4 of this plan. Goal Statement The Goal Statement of this plan is to identify areas at risk from natural hazards and to develop policies and actions that could be implemented to reduce the impacts of natural hazards on the residents, properties and natural resources of North Kingstown. A high priority is placed on protecting the safety of residents and visitors alike. The town’s many historic buildings and coastal resources are of special concern. This hazard mitigation plan update has also taken steps to incorporate climate change into planning analyses as a first step in considering its impact on North Kingstown, including how it may exacerbate natural hazards such as floods, hurricanes, and drought. Goal 1 Reduce risks and increase resilience from natural hazards in North Kingstown. Goal 2 Ensure public safety from natural hazards. Goal 3 Maintain emergency services during an event. Goal 4 Retrofit hazard prone facilities.