Northfield and Warwick Community Resilience Building and Hazard Mitigation Regional Plan
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DRAFT Northfield and Warwick Community Resilience Building and Hazard Mitigation Regional Plan Adopted by the Northfield and Warwick Select Boards on xx, xx Prepared by Northfield and Warwick Core Teams (Local Planning Team) and Franklin Regional Council of Governments 12 Olive Street, Suite 2 Greenfield, MA 01301 (413) 774-3167 www.frcog.org This project was funded by a grant received from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ (EEA) Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program (MVP). Acknowledgements The Northfield and Warwick Select Boards thank the Northfield and Warwick Core Team (Local Planning Team) for their work on this project. ___________________________ The Northfield and Warwick Select Boards offer thanks to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) for developing the 2018 Massachusetts Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan, which served as a resource for this plan. Technical assistance was provided by staff of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. Peggy Sloan, Director of Planning & Development Kimberly Noake MacPhee, Land Use & Natural Resources Program Manager Alyssa Larose, Senior Land Use & Natural Resources Planner Helena Farrell, Land Use & Natural Resources Planner Allison Gage, Land Use & Natural Resources Planner Alexander Sylvain, Emergency Preparedness Program Assistant Ryan Clary, Senior GIS Specialist Northfield and Warwick Community Resilience Building and Hazard Mitigation Regional Plan i Contents 1 PLANNING PROCESS .............................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 1 CORE TEAM ......................................................................................................................................... 2 PARTICIPATION BY STAKEHOLDERS ..................................................................................................... 5 2 LOCAL PROFILE AND PLANNING CONTEXT ............................................................................................ 8 COMMUNITY SETTING ......................................................................................................................... 8 IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ......................................................................................................... 27 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS (Sample MVP/HMP Report Template) ...................................................... 32 PROBLEM STATEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 52 3 HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND RISK ASSESSMENT .............................................................................. 56 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 56 NATURAL HAZARD RISK ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 58 FLOODING.......................................................................................................................................... 63 SEVERE SNOWSTORMS / ICE STORMS .............................................................................................. 91 HURRICANES / TROPICAL STORMS .................................................................................................. 105 SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS / WIND / MICROBURSTS ...................................................................... 115 TORNADOES .................................................................................................................................... 129 WILDFIRE ......................................................................................................................................... 140 EARTHQUAKES ................................................................................................................................. 155 DAM FAILURE .................................................................................................................................. 166 DROUGHT ........................................................................................................................................ 175 LANDSLIDES ..................................................................................................................................... 184 EXTREME TEMPERATURES .............................................................................................................. 190 INVASIVE SPECIES ............................................................................................................................ 209 VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES ............................................................................................................... 225 MANMADE HAZARDS ...................................................................................................................... 233 OTHER HAZARDS ............................................................................................................................. 241 4 MITIGATION CAPABILITIES & STRATEGIES ......................................................................................... 242 NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR HAZARD MITIGATION & CLIMATE RESILIENCY ........................... 242 EXISTING AUTHORITIES POLICIES, PROGRAMS, & RESOURCES ....................................................... 243 HAZARD MITIGATION GOAL STATEMENTS AND ACTION PLAN....................................................... 265 5 PLAN ADOPTION AND MAINTENANCE .............................................................................................. 288 PLAN ADOPTION .............................................................................................................................. 288 PLAN MAINTENANCE PROCESS ....................................................................................................... 288 APPENDIX A Public Participation .............................................................................................................. 297 APPENDIX B Certificate of Adoption ......................................................................................................... 298 Northfield and Warwick Community Resilience Building and Hazard Mitigation Regional Plan ii Table of Tables: Table 2-1: Northfield and Warwick 2016 MassGIS Land Cover and Land Use Data .................................................... 10 Table 2-2: Natural Hazard Problem Statements ............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 3-1: Comparison of hazards in the Massachusetts State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan, Northfield and Warwick Hazard Mitigation Plans, and the Northfield and Warwick Community Resilience Building and Hazard Mitigation Regional Plan .......................................................................................................................... 56 Table 3-2: Location of Occurrence Rating Scale .......................................................................................................... 59 Table 3-3: Probability of Occurrence Rating Scale ....................................................................................................... 59 Table 3-4: Impacts Rating Scale ................................................................................................................................... 60 Table 3-5: Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis ......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Table 3-6: Previous Occurrences of Flash Floods in Franklin County .......................................................................... 78 Table 3-7: Previous Occurrences of Floods in Franklin County ................................................................................... 79 Table 3-8: Estimated Northfield and Warwick Population Exposed to a 1 Percent Flood Event ................................ 83 Table 3-9: Estimated Vulnerable Populations in Northfield ........................................................................................ 83 Table 3-10: Estimated Vulnerable Populations in Warwick ......................................................................................... 84 Table 3-11: Acres of Commercial, Industrial, and Public/Institutional Land Use Within the Flood Hazard Area in Northfield and Warwick .............................................................................................................................................. 87 Table 3-12: NFIP Policies, Claims, and Repetitive Loss Statistics for Northfield and Warwick .................................... 88 Table 3-13: Regional Snowfall Index Categories .......................................................................................................... 94 Table 3-14: Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale Categories ............................................................................................ 94 Table 3-15: High-Impact Snowstorms in Franklin County, 1958 - 2018 ...................................................................... 97 Table 3-16: Recent Snow Events that Impacted Northfield and Warwick ................................................................... 97 Table 3-17: Estimated Vulnerable Populations in Northfield ...................................................................................