Natural A step-by-step guide Hazards to help Massachusetts communities deal with Mitigation multiple natural Planning: hazards and A Community to minimize Guide future losses Prepared by With assistance from Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management Federal Emergency Management Agency Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Natural Resources Conservation Service Massachusetts Hazard Mitigation Team January 2003 Mitt Romney, Governor · Peter C. Webber, DEM Commissioner · Stephen J. McGrail, MEMA Director P r e f a c e The original version of this workbook was disaster mitigation program, the Flood Mitigation published in 1997 and entitled, Flood Hazard Assistance (FMA) program, as well as other federal, Mitigation Planning: A Community Guide. Its state and private funding sources. purpose was to serve as a guide for the preparation Although the Commonwealth of of a streamlined, cost-efficient flood mitigation plan Massachusetts has had a statewide Hazard by local governments and citizen groups. Although Mitigation Plan in place since 1986, there has been the main purpose of this revised workbook has not little opportunity for community participation and changed from its original mission, this version has input in the planning process to minimize future been updated to encompass all natural hazards and disaster damages. A secondary goal of the to assist Massachusetts’ communities in complying workbook is to encourage the development of with the all hazards mitigation planning community-based plans and obtain local input into requirements under the federal Disaster Mitigation Massachusetts’ state mitigation planning efforts in Act of 2000 (DMA 2000). The parts of this order to improve the state’s capability to plan for workbook that correspond with the requirements of disasters and recover from damages. It is our hope DMA 2000 will be noted through the workbook that this revised workbook continues to prove useful with this symbol: in tailoring a plan to meet the specific needs of each municipality. DMA 2000 Interim Final Rule This workbook can also help communities Section 201.6 obtain credit under the National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating Systems, or CRS. The The strong home-rule form of government in CRS provides credits in the form of reduced flood Massachusetts means that local governments in the insurance premiums for policyholders in Commonwealth are the primary decision-makers for communities performing floodplain management disaster management through land use measures, activities beyond minimum standards. building codes, zoning, and other regulatory tools. Development of an all hazards mitigation plan at the If your community is in CRS or wants to join, local level allows a community to effectively up to 210 points credit can be obtained by using this address a variety of risks resulting from natural workbook to prepare a Floodplain Management hazards. This step-by-step guide is intended to help Plan as described in CRS Activity 510. This expand a community’s capability in dealing with all activity gives communities credit for the planning natural hazards, to minimize future disaster losses, process undertaken to identify and reduce flood to identify mitigation activities and to assist in hazards. This workbook covers all the required securing funding for future hazard mitigation steps to get credit for preparing a CRS Floodplain projects. Management Plan. The areas corresponding to CRS credit will be noted through the workbook with this The resulting plans will meet the symbol: requirements of the DMA 2000, which calls for communities to have an all hazards mitigation plan CRS in place by November 1, 2004 in order to qualify Activity 510.e for future funding under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). In addition, these plans can assist a community in applying for other hazard mitigation project funding, such as FEMA’s pre- i Acknowledgments The 1997 version of this document was conceived by Richard Thibedeau, former State Hazard Mitigation Officer and Director of the Bureau of Resource Protection of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management. The majority of the content in the 1997 version and this revised workbook represents the work not only of Massachusetts’s environmental planning staff, but also of floodplain managers and disaster recovery specialists throughout the nation who are striving toward the common goal of reducing future losses from natural disasters. Special recognition is due to the authors of the Flood Hazard Mitigation in Northeastern Illinois workbook, the Wisconsin Community Flood Mitigation Planning Guidebook, and the Community Rating System Floodplain Management Plan. Their excellent publications have helped shape the format and content of this workbook, as have the many additional documents referenced in the Bibliography. Original Research and Development by Clancy Phillipsborn, President The Mitigation Assistance Corporation Original Writing, Layout and Production by Michele Steinberg, Regional Planner and Richard Zingarelli, Program Manager, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, Flood Hazard Management Program 1997 Editor Miriam G. Anderson, Regional Planner Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, Flood Hazard Management Program 2002 Editors Miriam G. Anderson, Regional Planner, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, Flood Hazard Management Program Donna Nelson, Hazard Mitigation Planner, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency & Department of Environmental Management Candice Tanner, Disaster Recovery Coordinator, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Additional Review and Development Provided by Massachusetts Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Environmental Law Enforcement Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region I, Mitigation Division Natural Resources Conservation Service Funding Provided by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Federal Emergency Management Agency Natural Resources Conservation Service This publication was supported by funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, the Community Assistance Program/State Support Service Element of the National Flood Insurance Program and from the Natural Resources Conservation Service as part of the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Federal Government. ii Contents Preface i Acknowledgements ii Introduction – Natural Hazards Can Happen Anywhere! 1 What an All Hazards Plan Will Do for You! 3 How Do We Use This Workbook? 6 Planning Steps for Local All Hazards Mitigation 9 Step 1: Map the Hazards – Where Are They? 10 Step 2: Determine Potential Damage – What Are the Risks? 12 Step 3: Identify What’s Already in Place – What Are We Already Doing? 14 Existing Protection Matrix 16 Step 4: Identify What’s Not Being Done – Where Are the Gaps in Our Protection? 17 Step 5: Brainstorm Alternatives – What Actions Can Be Taken? 21 Step 6: Evaluate Actions – What Is Feasible? 25 Step 7: Coordinate with Others – Who Else Is Doing This? 28 Step 8: Select Actions – What Are Our Priorities? 30 Step 9: Develop a Strategy – How Do We Implement Actions? 32 Step 10: Adopt and Monitor the Plan – Putting It All Together 34 Appendix A: Resources on the Internet – Helpful Websites A-1 Appendix B: Technical and Financial Assistance for Mitigation B-1 Appendix C: Action Examples C-1 Appendix D: Existing Protection Systems – Federal and State (DMA 2000 & HMGP) D-1 Appendix E: Responding to Opportunities E-1 Bibliography Bibliography -1 iii Natural Hazards Can Happen Anywhere Massachusetts is susceptible to a variety of natural hazards – floods, Storm Surge: severe thunderstorms, nor’easters/winter storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, Furious Nor’easter wildfires, and drought. These natural events can happen anywhere, Pounds Bay State whether in a rural town in the Berkshires, a mill city on the Merrimack Boston Herald, March 7, 2001 River or a summer haven on the Atlantic Ocean. The economic costs of natural hazards, especially the number one hazard in Massachusetts -- flooding -- can be staggering. Blizzard Blasts Coast In Massachusetts alone, since 1978 there has been over $197 million paid Coastlines, in flood insurance claims, and an estimated $108 million worth of damage MA Coastal Zone Management to public property, with repair paid by federal, state and local tax dollars. Newsletter, Spring 2001 Most recently, the March/April 2001 floods caused nearly $8 million in flood and storm damage along the Massachusetts coastline. Previous Now is the ideal flooding in June 1998 caused more than $9 million in damage throughout time to plan for an eastern Massachusetts. Approximately 92% of these damaged properties were previously damaged during the October 1996 storms which were expansion, giving more severe and caused more than $90 million in flood damage to private disaster prevention and public property throughout the greater Boston area and surrounding as much priority as suburbs. disaster relief. Major events such as the Blizzard of 1978, Hurricane Bob in August 1991 The Boston Globe editorial and the October 1991 coastal storm as well as numerous smaller floods, followingTropical