1998 Year of the Ocean Mitigating the Impacts of Coastal Hazards 



OPPORTUNITIES AND BARRIERS FOR MANAGING 

 THE IMPACTS OF COASTAL HAZARDS 



A shift in focus from the traditional disaster planning and management approach to a 

 more comprehensive hazards management strategy will require a long-range, coordinated effort 

 involving numerous public and private sector partners. There is a great deal of attention focused 

 on hazards due to several consecutive years of catastrophic events. El Nino has also played a 

 major role in focusing the nation's attention on natural hazards. Now is an appropriate time to 

 identify and evaluate the full range of opportunities for reducing future disaster impacts. Some of 

 the highest priority hazards issues are identified below and described in terms of a few key 

 barriers and opportunities for improvement: 



Scientific understanding of coastal environments. A key element in reducing disaster impacts 

 is to develop a more thorough scientific understanding of the natural and physical environments 

 that are at risk. The opportunity exists to establish baseline information about the physical 

 features and characteristics of the coast and identify the geologic factors that make certain coastal 

 locations particularly vulnerable to hazard impacts. One of the primary obstacles to this effort is 

 the lack of relevant data on a scale that can be useful in local hazards management. 



Risk assessment. The increased emphasis on hazard mitigation at the local level led by FEMA's 

 National Mitigation Strategy and its Project Impact initiative has expanded the interest and desire 

 of many local governments to identify their hazards and conduct risk and vulnerability 

 assessments. This interest presents an opportunity to develop sound risk assessment 

 methodologies for use at the local level. The most significant obstacles to overcome in this area 

 include the limitations of existing data and information, and the expense associated with 

 developing high accuracy local hazards data. Some of the issues that need to be resolved include 

 data availability, resolution, scale, accuracy, and cost. If risk assessments are too general, hazards 

 data may not be incorporated into existing decision support systems at the local level. 



Prediction, forecasts, and warnings. While varying degrees of progress have been reported in 

 enhancing prediction and warning capabilities for the different natural hazards, certain research 

 aspects of the field have flourished over the last several years. There is an abundance of social 

 and behavioral research dedicated to studying individual responses to hazard predictions and 

 warnings. This body of research provides opportunities for improving warning systems based on 

 the human perceptions of disasters. There is a recognized need for a strategy that addresses the 

 behavioral research findings, and strives to achieve some level of consistency and continuity 

 concerning warnings for the various hazards that threaten communities. The most significant 

 obstacle to implementing improvements in warning systems is the lack of a consistent national 

 policy or strategy on warnings. Another challenge in the area of forecasts and warnings is 

 expanding lead times enough to meet the increasing demands caused by growth in high risk 

 locations. 



Disaster preparedness and response. This is probably the most developed area of emergency 

 management, complete with plans, exercises, training, and public education programs established 



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