02-25-19-R - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Ramsey County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2018 Page | 31 Section 4 – Risk Assessment The goal of mitigation is to reduce or eliminate the future impacts of a hazard including loss of life, property damage, disruption to local and regional economies, and the expenditure of public and private funds for recovery. Sound mitigation practices must be based on sound risk assessment. A risk assessment involves quantifying the potential loss resulting from a disaster by assessing the vulnerability of buildings, infrastructure and people. Basing risk assessments on the best information available is important in developing effective mitigation actions that benefit communities. Geographic Information System (GIS) tools are not only helpful in producing maps, but they also show structures at risk and may determine damage estimates for potential hazard scenarios. MN Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) mitigation staff encourages the use of GIS tools in risk assessments because they produce good information to be used in the risk assessment process. In recognition of the importance of planning in mitigation activities, FEMA created Hazards USA Multi-Hazard (Hazus), a powerful GIS-based disaster risk assessment tool. This tool enables communities to predict estimated losses from floods, hurricanes and other related phenomena and to measure the impact of various mitigation practices that might help reduce those losses. Hazus was used by UMD Geospatial Analysis Center staff in the flood hazard risk assessment (see section 4.4.5). This assessment identifies the characteristics and potential consequences of a disaster, how much of the community could be affected by a disaster, and the impact on community assets. A risk assessment consists of 3 components — hazard identification and prioritization, risk profile and vulnerability profile. 4.1 Hazard Identification/Profile 4.1.1 Hazard Identification The cornerstone of the risk assessment is identification of the hazards that affect jurisdictions. To facilitate the planning process, several sources were employed to ensure that the natural hazards are identified prior to assessment. The county maintenance of the plan includes continual updates of the hazards identified in the initial plan. The mitigation steering committee compared the hazards in the initial plan to current publications to determine if new hazards should be considered or if some should be deleted. Natural hazards are identified in the FEMA publication “Multi-Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment – A Cornerstone of the National Mitigation Strategy,” also known as MHIRA. FEMA Region V developed a list based on state mitigation plans in the region. Table 7 lists the natural hazards included in the 2014 Minnesota State Hazard Mitigation Plan. Table 7. FEMA MHIRA Natural Hazards in the 2014 Minnesota State Hazard Mitigation Plan Flooding Hail Drought Dam/Levee Failure Lightning Extreme Heat Wildfire* Winter Storms Extreme Cold