1998 Year of the Ocean Mitigating the Impacts of Coastal Hazards 



Reducing Disaster Losses through Hazard Mitigation 



Given the significant costs of the nation's catastrophic natural disasters, focus has shifted 

 in recent years to expand beyond emergency preparedness and response to include a more long- 

 term emphasis on disaster loss reduction. Hazard mitigation is the term used to describe activities 

 that minimize either an individual's or a community's vulnerability to future disaster damages. 

 Mitigation is often characterized as either structural (e.g., strengthening buildings or constructing 

 protective devices) or non-structural (e.g., land use planning or incentive-based insurance rates). 

 In a broader context, however, loss reduction or hazard mitigation can more accurately be 

 described as a long-range goal or objective with many potential strategies for accomplishment. 



Hazard mitigation is defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as 

 "actions taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from hazards and 

 their effects." The primary goals for mitigation include ensuring that fewer Americans become 

 victims of disaster, reducing the costs associated with disaster, and shifting the burden of disaster 

 costs from the public to those who choose to live in hazardous locations. In 1995, FEMA 

 developed the National Mitigation Strategy to encourage partnerships between the public and 

 private sectors with the specific goal of significantly reducing the impacts of natural hazards by 

 the year 2010. In 1996, the President's National Science and Technology Council Committee on 

 the Environment and Natural Resources developed the Natural Disaster Reduction Plan for the 

 nation to complement FEMA's National Mitigation Strategy. 



Concurrent with FEMA's aggressive stance on hazard mitigation, many federal agencies 

 with hazards responsibilities, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

 (NOAA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Department of Defense (DoD), and U.S. Coast Guard 

 (USCG) also have programs and initiatives utilizing their own hazards information, scientific and 

 technological capabilities, and resources to support a variety of hazards loss reduction activities. 



Throughout the marine community and in coastal regions, the USCG works to spread the 

 mitigation message for any impending coastal hazard. In many cases this includes direct personal 

 contacts to ensure adequate actions are underway to secure port areas, or conducting harbor 

 patrols to identify resources at risk and recommend specific mitigation measures as appropriate. 

 The USCG, along with numerous federal agencies including the DoD and the Department of 

 Housing and Urban Development, also participate in national response efforts for major disasters 

 and contribute to national disaster planning activities. 



The USGS, through the Coastal Marine Geology Program, conducts scientific research in 

 the nation's coastal zone and in adjoining continental shelf regions. The broad goal is to collect 

 information that will improve the understanding of geologic hazards, environmental conditions, 

 biologic habitats, earth science processes, and energy and mineral resources. Such information in 

 turn can help managers make informed decisions about wise use and protection of coastal and 

 marine resources. 



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