Lackawanna County Hazard Mitigation Plan 2015 Update Prepared for: Prepared by: Lackawanna County Planning Commission Vision Planning and Consulting, LLC 135 Jefferson Avenue 7572 Morris Street Scranton, PA 18501 Fulton, MD 20759 April 2015 2015 Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan Update Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 PURPOSE ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 SCOPE .................................................................................................................................................. 2 1.4 ORGANIZATION OF THE PLAN ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.5 AUTHORITY AND REFERENCE ........................................................................................................................ 2 CHAPTER 2 – COMMUNITY PROFILE ..................................................................................... 4 2.1 GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 COMMUNITY PROFILE/FACTS ........................................................................................................................ 6 2.3 POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS ................................................................................................................. 6 2.4 EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRY PROFILE ............................................................................................................ 7 2.5 LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT ...................................................................................................................... 7 2.6 DATA SOURCES AND LIMITATIONS .................................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER 3 – PLANNING PROCESS .................................................................................... 10 3.1 UPDATE PROCESS AND PARTICIPATION SUMMARY ............................................................................................ 10 3.2 THE PLANNING TEAM ............................................................................................................................... 11 3.3 MEETINGS AND DOCUMENTATION ................................................................................................................ 12 3.4 PUBLIC & STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION ....................................................................................................... 13 3.5 MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL PLANNING ............................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 4 – RISK ASSESSMENT ...................................................................................... 15 4.1 UPDATE PROCESS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 15 4.2 HAZARD IDENTIFICATION ........................................................................................................................... 16 4.2.1 Presidential and Gubernatorial Disaster Declarations ................................................................................................. 16 4.2.2 Summary of Hazards ................................................................................................................................................... 18 4.2.3 Critical Facilities ........................................................................................................................................................... 19 4.3 HAZARD PROFILES .................................................................................................................................. 19 4.3.1 Flooding ....................................................................................................................................................................... 19 4.3.2 Winter Weather ............................................................................................................................................................ 21 4.3.3 Wind Events ................................................................................................................................................................. 23 4.4.4 Hazardous Material Releases ...................................................................................................................................... 25 4.4.5 Wildfires ....................................................................................................................................................................... 26 4.4.6 Drought and Crop Failure ............................................................................................................................................. 29 4.4.7 Levee Failure ............................................................................................................................................................... 31 4.4.8 Nuclear Release ........................................................................................................................................................... 33 4.4.9 Earthquakes ................................................................................................................................................................. 35 4.4.10 Land Subsidence/Mine Related Issues ...................................................................................................................... 37 4.4.11 Dam Failure ................................................................................................................................................................ 38 4.4.12 Landslides .................................................................................................................................................................. 40 4.4.13 Radon ......................................................................................................................................................................... 42 4.4 HAZARD VULNERABILITY SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. 44 4.4.1 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................................. 44 4.4.2 Ranking Results ........................................................................................................................................................... 44 4.4.3 Potential Loss Estimates .............................................................................................................................................. 45 4.4.4 Future Development and Vulnerability ......................................................................................................................... 45 CHAPTER 5 - CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT ............................................................................ 46 5.1 UPDATE PROCESS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 46 5.2 CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT FINDINGS ............................................................................................................. 47 2015 Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan Update Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania 5.2.1 Planning and Regulatory Capability ............................................................................................................................. 47 5.2.2 Administrative and Technical Capability ...................................................................................................................... 49 5.3 PLAN INTEGRATION ................................................................................................................................. 49 5.3.1 Document Review ........................................................................................................................................................ 49 5.3.1.a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Document Review ................................................................................. 49 5.3.1.b Lackawanna County Document Review .................................................................................................... 52 5.3.1.c Regional Plans Document Review ............................................................................................................ 54 5.3.1.d Municipal Plans and Ordinances ............................................................................................................... 56 5.3.2 Municipal Capability Assessment ................................................................................................................................. 58 CHAPTER 6 – MITIGATION STRATEGY ................................................................................ 66 6.1 UPDATE PROCESS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................... 66 6.2 MITIGATION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES