Alger County Adopted by: Alger County Board of Commissioners July 20, 2015 Approved by: FEMA, Region V August 31, 2015 Hazard Mitigation Plan - Update 2015 Prepared by: Alger County Local Emergency Prepardness Committee (LEPC) and CUPPAD Regional Commission Path: E:\Gisdata\NAD83\alger\HazardMitigation\HazMitCoverPage.mxd Alger County Hazard Mitigation Plan Table of Contents Page 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Plan Process ................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Revision ....................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Public Participation ..................................................................................... 3 1.5 Jurisdictions Participating in the Plan Update………………………………………….6 2.0 Community Profile .................................................................................................. 1 2.1 County Overview ......................................................................................... 1 2.1.1 Local Governmental Units .............................................................. 1 2.2 Geography ................................................................................................... 2 2.3 Climate ........................................................................................................ 2 2.4 Community Facilities and Organizations .................................................... 3 2.4.1 Critical Services ............................................................................... 5 2.5 Culture and Community Profiles ................................................................. 7 2.6 Housing ....................................................................................................... 9 2.7 Public Infrastructure ................................................................................... 10 2.8 Areas of Land Use Conflict .......................................................................... 11 2.9 Historic Resources ....................................................................................... 12 2.10 Transportation ............................................................................................ 12 2.11 Economic Characteristics ............................................................................ 13 2.12 Population ................................................................................................... 14 3.0 Hazards .................................................................................................................... 1 3.1 Hazard Rating and Ranking ......................................................................... 1 3.2 Risk and Vulnerability Assessments ............................................................ 1 3.3 Hazard Analysis ........................................................................................... 3 3.3.1 Natural ............................................................................................ 4 3.3.2 Technological .................................................................................. 19 3.3.3 Social .............................................................................................. 27 3.4 Identified Hazards with Affected/Vulnerable Facilities .............................. 35 3.5 Declared Disasters in Alger County ............................................................. 38 4.0 Identify and Prioritize Strategies ............................................................................ 1 4.1 Issues, Goals, and Strategies ....................................................................... 1 4.2 Evaluation Criteria ...................................................................................... 4 4.3 Mitigation Strategies................................................................................... 5 4.4 Means to Accomplish Mitigation………………………………………………………………6 5.0 Action Plan ............................................................................................................... 1 5.1 Mitigation Actions ....................................................................................... 1 5.2 Plan Maintenance ....................................................................................... 9 5.2.1 Reviewing, Evaluating, Updating .................................................... 9 5.2.2 Public Participation ........................................................................ 10 Appendices: Appendix A – Local Units of Government (Profiles, General Information and Statistics) Appendix B – Historic Sites Appendix C – Hazard Risk Analysis Appendix D – High Risk Erosion Parcels Appendix E – National Climatic Data Center – Weather Events Appendix F – Maps: Map 1 Base map Map 2 Population Distribution Map 3 Land Cover Map 4 Watersheds Map 5 Elevations Above Sea Level Map 6 Major Facilities and Infrastructure Map 7 Floodplains Map 8 Annual Average Daily Traffic Map 9 Wind Zones in the U.S. Map 10 High Risk Wildland Fire Areas Map 11 NOAA Weather Radio Coverage (Upper Michigan) Map 11a NOAA Weather Radio Coverage (Munising) Map 11b NOAA Weather Radio Coverage (Newberry) Map 11c NOAA Weather Radio Coverage (Grand Marais) Map 11d NOAA Weather Radio Coverage (Manistique) Map 11e NOAA Weather Radio Coverage (Marquette) Alger County Hazard Mitigation Plan August 31, 2015- Approved by FEMA 1.0 Introduction “Hazard Mitigation” is defined as any action taken before, during, or after a disaster to permanently eliminate or reduce the long‐term risk to human life and property from natural and man‐made hazards. Alger County has experienced various natural and man‐made hazards such as severe whiteout conditions along M‐28 and numerous ice and sleet storms that have closed schools and curtailed business activities. Hazard mitigation planning is a process that assesses risks and evaluates the community vulnerability from potential hazards. Deficiencies are identified and strategies are developed that help mitigate problem areas. By developing an effective hazard mitigation plan a community can potentially reduce the affects of a future disaster. Potential effects of a disaster include loss of lives and property, environmental and economical concerns, and reduced essential services and quality of life. The result of this plan process is an Action Plan that identifies the appropriate steps to help mitigate present and future hazards. Alger County’s Board of Commissioners adopted a hazard mitigation plan in 2007. This document serves as the five‐year mandatory review and update of the Alger County Hazard Mitigation Plan. 1.1 Background The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides hazard mitigation assistance to state and local governments and to individuals through programs under the Robert T. Stafford Act, Section 404 (Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance). The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA2K) amended the Stafford Act, to require communities to have an approved Hazard Mitigation Plan in order to receive FEMA funding assistance. FEMA established project funding to develop local hazard mitigation plans. Part of these federal funds were allocated to the Michigan State Police/Emergency Management Division (MSP/EMD), which then re‐granted funding to Michigan counties and major municipalities to develop local hazard mitigation plans. A hazard mitigation plan must be approved by FEMA for disasters declared after November 1, 2004. Programs that provide federal assistance are: the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMAP), and Pre‐Disaster Mitigation Program (PDMP). FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Handbook describes these three grant programs in detail. Alger County Hazard Mitigation Plan | Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION ‐ Page 1 Alger County Hazard Mitigation Plan August 31, 2015- Approved by FEMA 1.2 Plan Process The Alger County Hazard Mitigation Plan process was given guidance by FEMA requirements and the Michigan Department of State Police‐Emergency Management Division (MSP/EMD) document – Pub 207, Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Workbook. The plan process is outlined below: Public Input is essential to the plan process in order to accurately understand the hazards faced by communities. Input into the plan was achieved through regular meetings and discussions with the County LEPC, Emergency Management Coordinator, local officials, and various agency personnel. Public participation takes place throughout the entire plan process and is described in more detail in Section 1.3. Public Input (Obtained throughout the process) Identify Hazards and Risks Define Goals Identify Strategies Select Evaluation Criteria Select Mitigation Strategies Draft Plan Adopt Final Plan and Begin Implementation The hazards and risks were identified through extensive research, meetings, surveys, and mapping. A community profile was first compiled to summarize the main components of the county and is explained in Section 2.0. Risks in the local units of government were described under three hazard categories: natural, technological, and social. A workgroup then rated the individual hazards to determine a high, moderate or low level of risk. Section 3.0: Hazards explains what went into the process and Table 3.1 shows the results. The goals and strategies focus on the higher‐risk hazards determined in part by the hazard identification process. The