A Threat Assessment for Natural Hazards in Richmond

This paper uses the THIRA model to create a threat assessment for natural hazards for the City of Richmond, VA. To begin with, THIRA in full means Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (FEMA, 2017). It is a four-step process of assessing the risk that assists individuals, nonprofit groups, businesses, schools, faith-based organizations and all government levels to understand the risks at hand and estimate capability requirements. The steps are: 

• Identifying the threats and hazards of concern 

• Giving context to the dangers and hazards 

• Establishing the capability targets 

• Applying the results 

The City of Richmond occupies 62.55 square miles and has a population of approximately 204,214 citizens (U.S. Census, 2015). It is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Richmond has some sensitive areas environmentally that include floodplains, wetlands, subaqueous bottomlands, stream banks and a variety of geological features that consist of soils with high erosion and steep slopes. The city has twenty-three National Register Districts with an estimate of 10, 000 buildings recorded in the National Register of Historic Places. Lastly, the James River runs for almost 24 miles within the city, and most of it is in a natural state (Richmond Mitigation Plan, 2017). Development along the river is limited to regions within Downtown and parts of the western bank, south to the limits of the City. 

Threats and hazards in Richmond City 

The natural hazards encountered in Richmond City are as highlighted in the table below: 

Context of the threats and hazards 

Winter storm, hurricane, thunderstorm, wind, and tornado are the most common hazards. Analysis involving the application of quantitative tools established that hurricane and tornado to be the most destructive while winter weather, flooding, and thunderstorms were found to have moderate predicted effects. 

Strong wind occurrences such as tornadoes and hurricanes have affected the area for a long time. Primarily, storms mainly cause flooding as compared to bringing high winds. The exception is in Central Virginia, which usually is prevalent with high winds hitting areas that have tree cover leading to roof damage and power disruptions due to damaged power lines. High floods from tropical and sub-tropical storm occurrences and strong thunderstorms seem to be localized. Huge floods also occur because of a high ratio of concrete and impervious pavement in watersheds that are highly populated which cannot absorb large volumes of runoff water during powerful storms. 

Flooding happens mainly along the three main watersheds found in the area, which are, the James, York, and Chowan Rivers. The floods are regularly experienced in May, August, and September. Localized flooding recently took place during intense storms in June and July 2016 (Richmond Mitigation Plan, 2017). To assess the risk of flooding, the Total Exposure in Floodplains version 2.0 (TEIF 2.0) method was employed. TEIF 2.0 establishes flood risk using building footprints given within controlled areas that are prone to flood hazards. The TEIF technique splits building replacement figures by proportionate procedures. After Hazus values are distributed to the building footprints, the buildings located in the Special Flood Hazard Area were established, and the portions of structures found in the floodplain were calculated (FEMA, 2017). Finally, the spread replacement values were matched for the dollar value connected with every separate building that is entirely or partly in the floodplain. These figures are then converted into 1000 ft2 blocks to be in line with the terms set and not aim at building owners or personal structures. 

Winter storms can have significant effects on the area. There have been three winter storm occurrences that led to the declaration of disasters in the Richmond-Crater area since 2011. The winter storms have mainly led to business disruption, loss of utilities and closure of roads but not significant impacts on structures. 

Capability targets and mitigation strategy 

Recover and identify 19,000 fatalities within 72 hours

The mitigation strategy goals are as follows: 

• Minimize loss of life, injuries, and loss of personal property 

• Provide education and training sessions to residents concerning their susceptibility to natural hazards. 

• Construct and maintain private and public infrastructure to make available continued service delivery 

• Boost the abilities of local governments to control and reduce the effects of risks. 

Adoption, implementation, and monitoring 

First, emergency management experts and local stakeholders will be involved to build community-wide support for the assessment. The input from the public will be solicited as part of the planning process. After that, three public meetings will be arranged in the area to engage the residents. This assessment will be given to the local government of Richmond City for adoption consideration. Funding for the implementation of this evaluation will be sought from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. 

In conclusion, hazard mitigation planning and minimizing of risk can have a significant reduction in the financial, physical, and emotional losses brought about by disasters. It is essential that people assess and plan accordingly to curb natural calamities. Failure to take action and the necessary steps to combat hazards leads to devastating effects and agony. 

References 

Richmond-Crater Multi-Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2017-2022, (2017) 

Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment | FEMA.gov . (2017).  Fema.gov . Retrieved 31 October 2017, from https://www.fema.gov/threat-and-hazard-identification-and-risk-assessment 

United States Census Bureau. (2015). Quick Facts for Virginia. Retrieved 31 October 2017, from http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/RHI205210/51