1998 Year of the Ocean Mitigating the Impacts of Coastal Hazards 



One important aspect of using the recovery and reconstruction processes to accomplish 

 hazard mitigation goals is how well prepared a community is to implement them at the time the 

 disaster strikes. There are too many demands on a community to logically and systematically 

 establish a hazard mitigation strategy and implement mitigation activities in the immediate 

 aftermath of a disaster. It is critical that communities consider and plan these strategies and 

 opportunities in their emergency planning processes. 



There is currently no national policy on pre-event planning for post-disaster recovery and 

 reconstruction. FEMA's guidelines on hazard mitigation planning encourage pre-event planning 

 but are tied to HMGP requirements that become effective only in post-disaster situations. Most 

 hazard mitigation plans, especially local plans, are developed after major disasters, usually many 

 months or even years into the recovery and reconstruction processes. Many of the most important 

 opportunities for reducing future hazard vulnerability are lost in the early recovery process when 

 communities rush to return to normal activities. 



There are difficult practical considerations associated with implementing hazard 

 mitigation policies and initiatives in a post-disaster environment. These considerations need to be 

 examined and weighed carefully in the planning process. Difficult political choices such as 

 enforcing restrictions or prohibitions on rebuilding or requiring new (and possibly more 

 expensive) construction standards for rebuilding, are often needed to implement post-event 

 hazard mitigation policies. The pressures to return things to normal as quickly and inexpensively 

 as possible are driven by the devastation to a community's disaster victims. Often, the adoption 

 of new policies and restrictions on redevelopment is not advisable or even possible in a post- 

 disaster environment. They often stand a better chance of adoption either in a pre-event hazards 

 planning phase or far enough into the recovery process that they will only apply to victims of the 

 next disaster. The implementation of these policies after a disaster is often politically difficult 

 enough; trying to develop and adopt them in the chaos that follows a disaster is usually 

 impractical. 



A major impediment to accomplishing loss reduction goals in the recovery and 

 reconstruction processes, is the lack of a coordinated federal policy concerning the use of various 

 types of federal disaster assistance. Numerous federal agencies are involved in providing post- 

 disaster recovery assistance to victims. Often this assistance is used to fund projects and 

 activities that are inconsistent with local mitigation goals and objectives, and sometimes 

 inconsistent with other federal programs. 



Coordinating Federal Policies on Hazard Mitigation 



Some significant progress has been made toward encouraging mitigation efforts that are 

 not exclusively associated with the "emergency" nature of hazards. These efforts are directed at 

 ensuring a more long-term approach to dealing with risks and identifying strategies to minimize 

 hazard exposure and potential losses. FEMA's National Mitigation Strategy sets the stage by 

 establishing two primary goals for hazard mitigation by the year 2010: 



H-7 



