1998 Year of the Ocean Mitigating the Impacts of Coastal Hazards 



at the various levels of government. In recent years, even the private sector has become active in 

 disaster response planning. Based on the advanced level of program development and the 

 presence of an established multi-disciplinary network, this field offers many potential 

 opportunities to emphasize disaster reduction strategies and identify mitigation opportunities. 

 The challenges to such efforts could include a general resistance to change in established 

 programs, particularly at the local level where resources are scarce and personnel have little, if 

 any, training to support such a focus. 



Education. Opportunities to improve hazard mitigation through education are plentiful. Because 

 numerous government and non-government organizations (such as the American Red Cross and 

 Institute for Business and Home Safety) are focusing on disaster loss reduction initiatives, there 

 are multiple networks and resources available for delivering hazard mitigation messages to 

 school age children and the general public. One of the barriers, however, is the lack of a simple, 

 clear, and meaningful message to relay. The concepts and terms associated with hazard 

 mitigation need to be simplified and put into a concrete, recognizable frame of reference for a 

 mass public audience. Many hazards practitioners describe a goal to influence public behavior 

 through awareness campaigns as similar to those used for seat belts and recycling. To achieve 

 such a goal will require well planned and thoroughly researched long range strategies. 



Disaster Losses. There is now a recognizable need to improve the methods for collecting, 

 reporting, and maintaining databases on the losses association with natural hazards. Several 

 recent and ongoing studies are focusing on specific measures to improve these methods and more 

 fully account for the short and long range impacts of natural hazards. One of the primary 

 obstacles to implementing a more complete disaster loss database, is the government's 

 fragmented approach to hazards information. Different agencies and organizations have 

 responsibility for different types of hazards data. Often the data is anecdotal, collected for a 

 specific case study or event, and not part of a larger, ongoing data collection effort. Categories of 

 losses are generally not consistent from one agency to another, and when disaster loss totals for a 

 single event are compared between agencies, they are rarely even close to the same figure. These 

 inconsistencies create huge gaps in accountability and do not provide an adequate baseline for 

 measuring progress for hazard mitigation. 



Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction. Many lessons have been learned from the recent 

 catastrophic events concerning the use of hazard mitigation in the recovery and reconstruction 

 process. Affected local communities can share these experiences concerning what works and 

 what does not in a post-disaster environment. One of the things that has clearly been 

 demonstrated in recent events is the need to prepare reconstruction plans before a disaster strikes. 

 Most communities do not engage in recovery and reconstruction planning, leaving important 

 hazard mitigation opportunities unrealized. 



Engineering and Structural Mitigation. As increased attention has been focused on reducing 

 disaster losses, significant research has focused on engineering and structural methods for 

 strengthening the built environment. Much more information is available about construction and 

 building techniques for withstanding the various forces of nature. While some progress has been 



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