TOWN OF SHARON HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN 2018 UPDATE Final Plan FEMA Approval Pending Adoption May 21, 2018 Adopted by the Town of Sharon Board of Selectmen June 5, 2018 PREPARED FOR: TOWN OF SHARON 90 SOUTH MAIN STREET SHARON, MASSACHUSETTS 02067 PREPARED BY: METROPOLITAN AREA PLANNING COUNCIL 60 TEMPLE PLACE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02111 TEL 617.933.0700 WWW.MAPC.ORG ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & CREDITS This plan was prepared for the Town of Sharon by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) under the direction of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The plan was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) Grant Program. MAPC Officers President, Keith Bergman, Town of Littleton Vice President, Erin Wortman, Town of Stoneham Secretary, Sandra Hackman, Town of Bedford Treasurer, Taber Keally, Town of Milton Executive Director, Marc Draisen, MAPC Thanks for the assistance of the following individuals: MAPC Staff Credits Project Manager: Martin Pillsbury Lead Project Planner: Emma Schnur Mapping/GIS Services: Eliza Wallace, Ryan Melendez Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Director: Kurt Schwartz Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner: Carol I. Sanchez Sharon Local Hazard Mitigation Planning Team James Wright, Chair Fire Department Beverly Anderson Health Department Lauren Barnes Town Administrator/Selectmen Linda Berger Recreation Department April Forsman Engineering/GIS Division John Ford Police Department Eric Hooper Department of Public Works Tilden Kaufman Police Department Richard Murphy Fire Department Mike Polimer Civil Defense Department Board of Selectmen, Public Meeting Participants and Community Stakeholders Special thanks to the Board of Selectmen for hosting two public meetings and to participants and community stakeholders. TOWN OF SHARON DRAFT HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN 2018 UPDATE I TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & CREDITS .................................................................. I LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES ............................................................................ III SECTION 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................ 1 SECTION 2: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 7 SECTION 3: PLANNING PROCESS & PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ..................... 13 SECTION 4: RISK ASSESSMENT ..................................................................... 19 SECTION 5: HAZARD MITIGATION GOALS .................................................. 65 SECTION 6: EXISTING MITIGATION MEASURES ........................................... 67 SECTON 7: MITIGATION MEASURES FROM 2009 PLAN .............................. 73 SECTION 8: HAZARD MITIGATION STRATEGY............................................. 77 SECTION 9: PLAN ADOPTION & MAINTENANCE ......................................... 87 SECTION 10: LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................... 89 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: LOCAL TEAM MEETING AGENDAS………………………..…91 APPENDIX B: HAZARD MAPPING…………………………………….….….97 APPENDIX C: DOCUMENTATION OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION…..….…....107 APPENDIX D: DOCUMENTATION OF PLAN ADOPTION…………....…….119 APPENCIX E: FEMA PLAN REVIEW………………………………………...121 TOWN OF SHARON DRAFT HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN 2018 UPDATE II of 133 LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES TABLES Table 1: Plan Review and Update Process ................................................................................................................... 3 Table 2: Previous Federal/State Disaster Declarations ............................................................................................. 7 Table 3: FEMA-Funded Mitigation Projects ................................................................................................................... 9 Table 4: Sharon Characteristics ................................................................................................................................... 10 Table 5: Hazard Risks Summary .................................................................................................................................. 19 Table 6: Norfolk County Flood Events, 1996 to 2017 ............................................................................................ 21 Table 7: Locally Identified Areas of Flooding .......................................................................................................... 24 Table 8: DCR Inventory of Dams in Sharon ............................................................................................................... 26 Table 9: Hurricane Records for Massachusetts, 1938 to 2012 ............................................................................. 28 Table 10: Saffir/Simpson Scale .................................................................................................................................. 28 Table 11: Enhanced Fujita Scale .................................................................................................................................. 29 Table 12: Tornado Records for Norfolk County ....................................................................................................... 30 Table 13: Nor’easter Events for Massachusetts, 1978 to 2018 ............................................................................ 31 Table 14: Norfolk County Thunderstorm Events, 1995 to 2017 ............................................................................ 32 Table 15: NESIS Categories ......................................................................................................................................... 35 Table 16: Severe Winter Storm Records for Massachusetts .................................................................................. 35 Table 17: Heavy Snow Events and Impacts in Norfolk County, 1996 to 2014 .................................................. 35 Table 18: Hail Size Comparisons ................................................................................................................................ 37 Table 19: Norfolk County Ice Storm Events, 1965 to 2015 ................................................................................... 38 Table 20: Richter Scale and Effects ............................................................................................................................ 39 Table 21: Historical Earthquakes in Massachusetts or Surrounding Area ............................................................ 39 Table 22: Landslide Volume and Velocity ................................................................................................................. 42 Table 23: Norfolk County Extreme Cold and Wind Chill Occurrences ................................................................ 46 Table 24: Norfolk County Extreme Heat Occurrences ............................................................................................ 47 Table 25: Chronology of Major Droughts in Massachusetts ................................................................................... 50 Table 26: Town of Sharon, MA 2005 Land Use ....................................................................................................... 54 Table 27: Summary of Sharon Developments, 2010-2017 ................................................................................... 56 Table 28: Future Development Sites in Hazard Areas ............................................................................................ 56 Table 29: Critical Facilities and Relationship to Hazard Areas ............................................................................. 58 Table 30: Estimated Damages from Hurricanes ....................................................................................................... 62 Table 31: Estimated Damages from Earthquakes .................................................................................................... 63 Table 32: Estimated Damages from Flooding ........................................................................................................... 64 Table 33: Existing Natural Hazard Mitigation Measures in Sharon ..................................................................... 70 Table 34: Status of Mitigation Measures from the 2010 Plan .............................................................................. 74 Table 35: Mitigation Measures for the Hazard Mitigation Strategy ................................................................... 80 Table 36: Prioritization of the Hazard Mitigation Measures ................................................................................. 84 FIGURES Figure 1: Existing Features: Critical Facilities, Development Sites, Open Space, & Local Hazard Areas ....... 5 Figure 2: USGS Flow Gage Data for Neponset River, March 2010 ................................................................... 20 Figure 3: State of Massachusetts Earthquake Probability Map ............................................................................ 41 TOWN OF SHARON DRAFT HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN 2018 UPDATE III of 133 Figure 4: Massachusetts Wildfires, 2001 to 2009 ................................................................................................... 44 Figure 5: Wind Chill Temperature Index and Frostbit Risk ..................................................................................... 46 Figure 6: