COM 0176.025 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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FEMA -Community Rating System Resource Center Page 1 of 2 All Hazard Mitigation Communities with flood problems are also likely to be threatened by other natural and technological hazards. The staff and programs that address flooding may also be responsible for protecting the community from earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, drought, hazardous materials incidents, and terrorism. Similarly, staff that work in programs related to other hazards may be implementing activities that could support floodplain management programs. FEMA supports an all-hazards approach to mitigation, as does the CRS. It makes economic sense that mitigation programs address as many hazards as are appropriate. An all-hazards approach also ensures that staff, programs, construction standards, and public information messages are consistent and mutually supportive. The CRS has become an important tool for mitigation as well as a mechanism for integrating mitigation with flood insurance. This is consistent not only with grading systems that have been successfully employed for many years in the insurance industry, but also with new industry initiatives for relating insurance premiums to local community efforts to reduce losses due to natural hazards. For example, adoption and enforcement of strong building codes as measured by the insurance industry's Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule integrates building code enforcement into the industry's premium rates. The CRS has served as a model for all-hazards pre-disaster mitigation activities. Several local officials have reported that the CRS was the blueprint for organizing their program to build a more disaster-resistant community. The 2006 edition of the CRS Coordinator's Manual highlights many opportunities for expanding a flood-only orientation to address other hazards. These include: . The 300 series of public information activities credits advising people about the risk of flooding and other hazards and the mitigation measures they can take to protect their properties; Under Activity 340 (Hazard Disclosure), disclosure of other hazards (DOH) credits advising potential purchasers of property that there may be other hazards that could affect the property, such as erosion, subsidence, or wetlands; . The credit for placing references in the public library under Activity 350 (Flood Protection Assistance) includes extra points for including documents on special flood-related hazards such as subsidence and coastal erosion; . Section 401 has an overview of the additional credits that are provided for mapping and managing seven special hazards: . Uncertain flow paths (alluvial fans, moveable bed streams, and other floodplains within which the channel moves during a flood), . Closed basin lakes, . Ice jams, Land subsidence, Mudflow hazards, . Coastal erosion, and . Tsunamis. . Activity 420 (Open Space Preservation) encourages communities to keep hazardous areas open and undeveloped; . Credit is provided for the International Series of building codes (which have improved protection standards for flooding, wind, and other hazards over previous model codes) in Activity 430 (Higher Regulatory Standards), Section 431.m; . Activity 430 (Higher Regulatory Standards) also credits extending V-Zone standards for coastal storm surge and wind protection farther inland to include coastal A Zones (Section http://training.fema.gov/EMI Web/CRS/m 1 s6main_£htm 3/22/2007