Florida Shmpoints Providing Insightful Mitigation News and Information from Around the State of Florida
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Florida SHMPoints Providing insightful mitigation news and information from around the State of Florida. VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 DECEMBER 2014 Public Facilities Flood Mitigation Initiative By: Jamie Leigh Price Imagine a world where buildings never got damaged referencing a series of FEMA publications, American Society from flood waters and tax payers never had to feel the burden of Civil Engineers publications, and the Florida Building of repairing buildings over and over again. That sounds ideal, Code to ensure accurate and up to date methodologies. right? Unfortunately, we’re a long way from seeing that happen, but Florida is In order to test the methodologies taking steps to hopefully one day make presented in the guidebook, planners and that vision a reality. engineers conducted pilot evaluations in partnership with three state agencies. In an effort to make Florida a state The facilities were chosen to represent a less burdened by the costs of floods, The vast cross-section of functionality, flood Florida Division of Emergency sources, risk, and structure and asset Management (FDEM) embarked on a type. The evaluations of the Florida statewide public facilities mitigation State University Coastal and Marine Lab initiative which focuses on facilities in the Florida Panhandle, the Florida threatened by flood waters. Partnering Department of Economic Opportunity with ARCADIS and utilizing Hazard Employment Service Center in South Mitigation Grant Program funds, Florida and the Florida Department of FDEM’s Mitigation Bureau set out to Health Bureau of Vital Statistics facility learn about the threatened facilities, in North Florida provided the analysis create an assessment tool, test its team with an opportunity to see how the functionality, and educate stakeholders methodology presented would be used about the tool. ARCADIS and understood during and after on-site evaluations. Using the Department of Environmental Protection’s Florida State Owned Lands and Records Information System The team developed training materials and conducted (FL-SOLARIS), FDEM obtained information on facility type, three pilot educational workshops to teach those involved agency, geographical coordinates, and other key information how to use the manual and complete evaluations, as pertaining to facilities across the state. This information was necessary. These workshops were conducted in September mapped, evaluated, and integrated with FEMA floodplain with the intention of soliciting feedback on the materials, data to create a map that has been uploaded to a password workshops, and the initiative as a whole. Feedback was protected website and is automatically updated as facilities thoroughly documented and changes were incorporated into are added or removed from the database. the final materials. The project called for the creation of a Public Facilities Moving forward, the FDEM Mitigation Bureau hopes to Flood Hazard Mitigation Assessment Manual to outline the work closely with state authorities responsible for the siting methodology and techniques involved in identifying, of new facilities to ensure that these facilities are properly evaluating and prioritizing flood prone facilities. The manual also attempts to help people understand the potential mitigated. The Bureau also hopes to continue and expand consequences of inaction as well as how identifying and portions of this initiative. There continues to be a high implementing mitigation measures can greatly reduce the demand for workshops to be conducted throughout the state. identified risk. This manual provides a variety of helpful Workshop materials will be finalized and available via the forms and a mitigation assessment report template to help the FDEM mitigation webpage. As of this article’s publishing, evaluator create a risk assessment report that could form the the next workshop is planned for the 2015 Governor’s backbone of a mitigation funding pursuit all while cross- Hurricane Conference. P A G E 2 Getting More from Your LMS CRS and EMAP Integration By: Michael Wallick LMS, CRS, EMAP… be earned through a continuation of community planners often feel as monitoring and evaluation of the though they are swimming through a LMS. sea of alphabet soup. Some plans are required while others are optional, One success story to come out and this can make the entire process of the integration of CRS Section seem very intimidating. No one likes 510 into the LMS review tool has to reinvent the wheel, nor does been Miami-Dade County. Cathie anyone like to spend unnecessary Perkins, a planner with Miami-Dade time duplicating efforts and County shared, “It was very helpful maintaining multiple large plans. In some cases it is better to to have the CRS items in [the review tool] as well. When I work smarter, not harder, and make the most out of required presented what we had incorporated into the plan I think a lot plans by adding the necessary relevant information to enhance of our members were very excited about all the work we have the benefits received from other elective programs. done. It was easy to follow the [review tool]; it was my go to when I was trying to figure out how to piece it all together”. In recent months, local participation in the National Flood Many other communities have begun to utilize the Florida Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) LMS Review Tool to help integrate CRS Section 510 into their has been a top priority for the Florida Division of Emergency planning processes. Management. With many of Florida’s counties going through their Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) updates, FDEM’s LMS integration doesn’t have to stop at CRS points. Mitigation Bureau saw the potential to address the 10 step FDEM’s Mitigation Planning Unit has been working closely Planning Process as outlined under Floodplain Management with the division’s Emergency Management Accreditation Planning Section 510 of the CRS program within the LMS Program (EMAP) Manager to review LMS plans for EMAP planning process. With the rollout of the Florida LMS Review compliance. Similar to CRS steps, EMAP Standards 4.3 and Tool in May 2014, Section 510 CRS compliance was 4.4 directly address hazard identification, risk and vulnerability embedded within the review tool as a way to show planners assessment, consequence analyses, and mitigation initiatives. areas of overlap between the two programs as well as make the Each of these topics is required in the LMS. For this reason, integration process easier. It should be noted that this is not a incorporating EMAP criteria into the 2014 Florida LMS requirement for those going through the LMS update process, Review Tool to help counties seeking EMAP recognition but serves as an easy way to address Section 510 for those identify areas for overlap and integration has been considered. counties wishing to pursue CRS points. The most appropriate place to integrate Standard 4.3 into the Florida LMS Review Tool would be the “Hazard Risk and Within the Florida LMS Review Tool (an Excel workbook Vulnerability Assessment” section, while the most appropriate consisting of multiple spreadsheets), you can find the Section place to integrate Standard 4.4 would be the “Mitigation 510 CRS Crosswalk which shows the elements required to Strategy” section. These added elements would still be optional maximize CRS points. This document is auto-populated from and could be integrated much like the CRS elements currently information entered into the LMS Review Tool, creating a in the tool. crosswalk that can be printed and submitted directly to the community’s CRS representative for scoring. FDEM’s Mitigation Planning Unit encourages your input on further integrating CRS and EMAP into the Florida LMS Section 510 includes 10 steps that can result in a Review Tool. To learn more about the Florida LMS Review maximum of 382 CRS points. These steps have been fully Tool please contact your FDEM LMS liaison. To learn more integrated into the Florida LMS Crosswalk spreadsheet to about the community ratings system, contact Danny Hinson at show where they can be incorporated within the LMS process. [email protected]. To learn more about Steps 1-3 can be found in the “Planning Process” section of the EMAP, contact Britton Holdaway at Florida LMS Review Tool. Steps 4 and 5 can be found in the [email protected]. To learn more about “Hazard Risk and Vulnerability Assessment”. Steps 6, 7, and 8 how Miami-Dade County has benefitted from the Florida LMS are included in the “Mitigation Strategy” section. Step 9 is Review Tool’s CRS integration, contact Cathie Perkins at under the “Plan Adoption” section and points for Step 10 can [email protected]. VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 P A G E 3 Organization Spotlight: NOAA’s Weather Ready Nation By: Michael Wallick The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s opportunities for communities; recognize the organization as a (NOAA) Weather-Ready Nation is an initiative to build Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador; and share the Weather- community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to Ready Nation Ambassador logo for their use. extreme weather and water events. The goal of the initiative is to improve the nation’s readiness, responsiveness, and overall The Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador initiative resilience. This includes improvements in a wide range of connects federal, state, and local government agencies; areas to support management of the nation’s water supply, emergency managers and city planners; researchers, the media; understanding of climate-related risks, economic productivity, the insurance industry; nonprofit organizations; the private healthy communities and ecosystems. sector; and many others who are working together to address the impacts of extreme weather on daily life. This effort to As a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador, partners commit involve the whole community to provide information for better to working with NOAA and other Ambassadors to strengthen decision making at the community, business, and personal national resilience against extreme weather.