Community Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning

Executive Summary 

Recent disasters across the region have acted as a demonstration that natural, man-made, and hazardous materials hazards can significantly affect the built environment. These effects, along with economic, social, political, and psychological costs of disasters to a community, can have a considerable impact on the population 1 . Rangewood is confronted daily with the possibility of a serious emergency incident of disastrous levels. The cost of the response to and recovery from disasters is great, along with the potential cost of lives. More recently, the area has experienced significant droughts and major hazardous materials being transported along roadways. Hence, plans for hazard mitigation and disaster recovery have been outlined to act as a guideline for the city to handle these risks. 

Introduction 

The City of Rangewood, while experiencing considerable growth, is facing substantial risks that may have an impact on the municipal, agricultural, recreational, and ecological flows. Based on these threats, there exists a need to increase the resilience of the City as a way of protecting it from the impact or occurrence of these hazards. In the last few years, the city council has had its focus and placed investments in structuring emergency response and disaster preparedness for the City of Rangewood. However, there has been very little attention provided to disaster recovery and the mitigation and prevention of future hazards within the City. 

The creation of plans for hazard mitigation, as well as disaster recovery, is essential to strengthening city resources for any threats that may occur. Rangewood city and its residents are vulnerable to a variety of hazards, including floods and drought. I believe that in the face of oncoming hazards, the creation of these plans will ensure that there is a proper level of preparedness. Moreover, there will also be a mitigation of the degree to which the City is affected. While these hazards cannot be prevented from occurring, the mitigation plan will create a framework for reducing the effects of these events when they take place. 

The main opportunity for the reduction of these risks is linked to reducing the vulnerability of the City to potential and existing hazards. The reduction of this can be made through the identification and reduction of the underlying drivers of these hazards, which are mainly linked to poor economic practices, environment degradations, and changes in the climate which may structure or increase the exposure of the City to these hazards. Hence, engaging in hazard mitigation will decrease the risk associated with the occurrence of these disasters while maintaining the sustainability associated with development 2 . Hazard mitigation ensures that there is preparedness for potential hazards as according to existing city resources. Through the identification of potential hazards and the extent to which the City is exposed, the mitigation plan will not only limit the exposure of the City to potential hazards but also help in the proper calibration of disaster recovery plans. 

.Disaster recovery will then involve the creation of several policies, procedures, and tools to enable the recovery of the infrastructure and systems within the City when a hazard occurs 3 . If the hazard mitigation plan is appropriately applied, then the disaster recovery plan will be effective in ensuring continuity within the community. Based on this, I have structured two plans below to cater to the existing needs of emergency preparedness. These plans have been structured specifically to the characteristics of Rangewood city and incorporate the history and resources that the City possesses. 

Plans for Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery 

Rangewood Hazard Mitigation Plan 

Introduction 

The mission of the Rangewood Hazard Mitigation plan is to conduct the promotion of a sound public policy that is structured for protecting citizens, critical facilities, infrastructure, private property, and the environment. This can be done by enhancing the level of public awareness and identifying the resources needed for reducing risks and preventing losses 4 . This plan also aims to identify the appropriate activities to guide the relevant jurisdictions towards the construction of a safer and sustainable environment. 

Goals of Hazard Mitigation 

The goals of the plan defined the general direction that the area that agencies and organizations have to work on concerning the mitigation of risks. Moreover, it is the intent that this plan supports the Grand Challenges, which were identified by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC): 

Providing information on hazards and disasters where and when required. 

Comprehend the natural procedures which produce hazards. 

Develop strategies and technologies for mitigating hazards. 

Recognizing and reducing vulnerabilities of interdependent infrastructures 5 . 

Evaluate disaster resilience through the use of standard techniques. 

Promote risk-wise behavior. 

Based on these challenges, the goals of these plans are; 

Protection of life and property- implementing activities that help in the protection of lives by making different entities more resistant to losses from hazards 6 . 

Improving public awareness- developing and implementing education and outreach process to enhance public awareness on risks linked to natural hazards. 

Strengthening partnerships and promoting the implementation of the plan- enhance communication while coordinating the participation of different agencies. Encourage existing leadership to focus on the implementation of mitigation activities. 

Community Profile 

Rangewood city is located at the Front Range of Colorado and is approximately 50 minutes away from Denver. It is within a 10-minute drive from the foothills, located on the plains. Based on the 2018 census, the City has a population of 72,650 residents. The City has a median household income of 55,580 dollars as compared to the median household income of Colorado of 59,448 dollars. About 34% of the population has a college-level education. The racial demographics of the City are 78.8% white and 19.7% Hispanic or Latino. The Cold River runs through the city center and historically provided irrigation flows for local agricultural lands. 

Rangewood has a strong agricultural sector, despite its decline over the last three decades, with organic farms that take place in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Co-operative programs. The City also has a growing start-up scene, which is made up of tech firms, creative firms, and a small number of biotech firms. This scene is dependent on the college-educated aspect of the community. The City also possesses a growing art scene made up of painters, photographers, and musicians. Rangewood has two public hospitals that provide good patient care as well as several local public schools, which also provide high-quality education services. 

Risk Profiling 

This plan makes identification of the various variables in every hazard as they apply to Rangewood City. 

Hazard	Identification	Significance
Drought	Review of ordinances  Input from utilities	Impact on general community  Impact on agricultural-based economy  Increased sense of urgency
Wildfires	Review of past disasters  Review of records	Loss of critical Infrastructure  Effect on the economy  Failure of businesses
Flooding	Input from city departments  Risk assessments  Identification of past damage in the City	The region contains rivers.  Flooding has caused residential or commercial damage.
Chemical Spill	Public input  Risk assessment	Increased use in an industrial setting.  Hazardous materials transport route.
Biological Hazards	Existing Coronavirus cases	High loss of life  High economic Impact

Hazard: Biological Hazards/ Coronavirus 

Frequency	10-100%
Potential of Occurrence	Up to 50%
Speed	Greater than 24 hours warning
Influential Factors	Human susceptibility to disease

Description : Biological hazards had a low probability and scope before the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. The recognition of a biological hazard can take place through different methods, such as identifying a credible threat, diagnosis, and detection. When individuals are exposed to a pathogen, they may not be aware they are exposed. This delay between exposure and the start of the illness characterizes infectious diseases. Currently, the City has 400 cases centered around a single meatpacking plant where a large number of immigrant workers are employed. 

The planning assumption is based on the existing threat posed by Coronavirus. The main assumption is that once the human-to-human transmission is established, the illness will spread quickly and across the world. Essential community services will also be at risk. 

Action Items : One of the main action items is limiting the number of illnesses and deaths that will be caused by the hazard. The second action item will be preserving the continuity of important government functions 7 . Lastly, the plan will focus on minimizing social disruption and economic losses as a result of this hazard. 

Hazard: Drought 

Frequency	10-100%
Potential of Occurrence	Up to 50%
Speed	Greater than 24 hours warning
Influential Factors	Seasonal Patterns

Description : Typically, drought involves a shortage of water linked to a deficiency of precipitation. Drought takes place when a normal amount of moisture cannot be accessed for the satisfaction of the normal water-consumption activities. In this document, droughts will be defined as a climatic dryness with severity to decrease soil moisture and water below the minimum required to sustain life systems. Rangewood has experienced a prolonged drought for eight years as with the rest of Colorado. Water is essential for river recreation, an essential economic source for the City. Water has been lower as compared to earlier averages, which increases concern for water availability. Further severe drought could decrease water areas in the location where natural water resources are utilized for domestic and agricultural water supply. 

Action Items: The following strategies will be implemented in the next year: 

Public Information Campaign Expansions 

Irrigation Technology Rebates 

Financial Incentives for commercial water-saving upgrades 

These action items will be funded through utility billing. 

Hazards: Wildfires 

Frequency	Near 100%
Potential of Occurrence	10% to 25%
Speed	Minimal warning
Influential Factors	Dry weather conditions

Description : Every year, a variety of wildfires burn millions of acres across the country. The height of the wildfire season takes place in the late summer months, especially across the Western States. Wildfires burn homes resulting in damages to infrastructure and natural resources. The risk from and of wildfires will increase with the increase of the population. 14% of the City's jurisdiction is located within the WUI. There have been three wildfires that have spread into the city limits. As the drought condition worsens, the Rangewood community is faced with an increased risk of wildfires. A significant wildfire would affect school, fire stations, government installations, water supplies, and other infrastructure within the City. 

Action items : the main goal of mitigating this hazard is enhancing the sustainability of the City and restoring fire-adapted ecosystems through identifying prioritization, and implementation of treatment projects within the City. The main action item, therefore, ensuring the completion and routine maintenance of a landscape-level fuel assessment using the best tools which will assess existing risks 8 . This will include support efforts by distributing resources and expertise. Lastly, the participation of private entities in implementing treatments will be encouraged. 

Hazard: Flood 

Frequency	10-100%
Potential of Occurrence	10 to 25%
Speed	Minimal warning
Influential Factors	Meteorological conditions

Description : floods act as an overflow from a river or body of water, which results in or threatens damage. Floods take place in different regions across the country. An increase in population and development in flood-prone areas can result in flood-related losses. The cold river that cuts across Rangewood city had a history of flooding. While there was no residential or commercial damage, the flooding destroyed municipal infrastructure on the river corridor. In the future, there may be a loss of life and severe damages if the flooding strikes the residential and commercial parts of the City. 

Action Items : There are several action items for hazard mitigation. One of these items includes reviewing and adjusting floodplains as required and maintaining updated flood maps. There will also be a focus on increasing the ability to engage in the safe diversion of stormwater and the acquisition of high-risk property in the floodway while converting them into open spaces 9 . The City should also focus on limiting new development with areas susceptible to flooding. 

Hazard: Chemical Spill 

Frequency	10-100%
Potential of Occurrence	Less than 20%
Speed	Minimal warning
Influential Factors	Depends on Chemical features

Description : Hazardous materials such as chemical spills may present an unreasonable risk to the safety and health of residents within the City. The potential severity of these chemical spills cannot exactly be established, but their risk to public safety is established. The local fracking operations within the City may result in chemical spills at well sites or even during their transportation through trucks on county roads. These chemical spills pose an extreme risk to the public due to their proximity to both residential and commercial areas. 

Action Items : the main channel for mitigating potential chemical spills at well sites across the City is through fire code inspection programs conducted by local fire departments. Through these inspection processes, facilities that contain these hazardous materials should be identified and undergo inspection for code compliance routinely. Moreover, local public safety agencies should routinely engage in drills and planning exercises concerned with chemical spills 10 . Hence, the maintenance of a trained and equipped response team for chemical spills is essentials, which should consist of technicians and specialists. Emergency preparedness training should also be presented to citizens concerning chemical spills. 

Hazard Mitigation Procedures 

Several hazard-specific mitigation activities were addressed. There are various activities that can be applied to multiple hazards discussed in the plan. The Mitigation activities that are proposed to be applied to all hazards will involve: 

Communities within the City will plan and maintain inter-agency mutual aid agreements for the facilitation of expediting distribution of resources at the time of emergencies 11 . This agreement will undergo annual reviews and updates. 

The City of Rangewood, its two hospitals, and volunteer organizations should collaborate with FEMA's Emergency Management Institute for participation in disaster simulations. These simulations will be focused on flooding, wildfires, and droughts will present an opportunity to exercise emergency operation plans. 

The City should incorporate technological applications such as laptops into their vehicles to improve communications activities for the agency while decreasing radio traffic. 

The City's website should incorporate a registration service for special needs to improve the response of emergency services to at-risk individuals at the time of disasters and evacuations 

Critical infrastructure will involve installations for electricity generation, gas production, and distribution, telecommunication systems, water supply, agriculture, heating, and transportation systems 

Maintenance of the Plan 

The maintenance of the plan will include a schedule for monitoring and evaluating the plan every year. The city council will hold responsibility for the coordination of the implementation of the action items identified. A Hazard mitigation committee should be structured and have responsibility for assisting with the implementation and evaluation of the plan. The schedule for implementation, review, and update is indicated in the table below. 

Activity	Date
A public meeting will be held across the City to make discussions of plan revisions	May to August 2020
Submission of a plan for FEMA approval	September 2020
Plan returned from FEMA to be adopted	October 2020
Hazard Mitigation Committee annual meeting	January 2021
Hazard Mitigation Committee annual meeting	January 2022
Hazard Mitigation Committee annual meeting	January 2023

Rangewood Disaster Recovery Plan 

Purpose and Scope 

The purpose of this plan is to design a framework for the effective management of the City and other resources authorized to facilitate recovery from emergency and disaster incidents that exceed the capabilities of the existing government 12 . This plan creates a coordinated procedure for the support city recovery efforts through the definition of the agency roles and duties along with the provision of guidelines to conduct essential recovery functions. 

Recovery Operations: Roles and Process 

The purpose of this section is to clarify and strengthen the roles of the entities that will be involved in the provision of disaster recovery plans. 

The Mayor 

The mayor, as the executive head of the state, possesses the constitutional and statutory authority to commit city and local resources for the purpose of protecting residents and the facilitation of recovery. This responsibility is exercised through the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM), as described through executive orders, memorandums, and city plans. The Mayor possesses the authority to inform the Colorado governor of the need for requesting a disaster or emergency declaration from the President. The staff of the Mayor's office will coordinate executive orders, external affairs, and disaster requests. 

City Council 

The city council's main role will be coordinating and supervising response activities within the City. This will involve supporting cooperation among different agencies as well as participating in daily briefings. 

Disaster Recovery Officer 

The disaster recovery officer will be housed in the Rangewood disaster recovery office. This officer's main role will be working with the community affected and different providers to identify needs that are not met along with achieving goals that will be outside those presented through traditional channels. 

Non-Government Organizations 

Several not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations will be actively involved in the provision of emergency aid services throughout the City during the response to and recovery from the hazard event. 

Recovery Activation Levels 

The activation of the local response activities will be based on the model established in the table below, which is a description of the different activation models. 

Response Alert	Triggers Actions	Actions
Response lean forward	Recovery alert	Appointment of the appropriate local recovery centers.  Identification of potential action and risks.  The sharing of information begins.
Response Stand Up	Immediate relief structures are required	Evaluation of response structures  Analysis of hazard impact or potential impact  Relief and recovery planning starts.  Deployments for immediate recovery services by the functional agencies begin.
Recovery Stand Down	Immediate relief structures continue.  Medium-term recovery begins.	The recovery plan activated.  Deployment for immediate recovery response.  Community information strategies continue.  Participation in response debrief.
Recovery Stand Down	Recovery structures are finalized.  Community returns to normal activities with continuous support as needed.	Consolidation of financial records.  Reporting features are finished.  A recovery debrief is conducted.  A post even review and evaluation is carried out.  There is a return to core business.

Concept of Operations 

Planning and Preparing for Recovery 

Recovery planning is essential to disaster planning as operations have to hold sufficient flexibility to deal with the needs of the affected parts of the City. Rangewood has this recovery plan, and during an actual disaster, the event will structure an event-specific recovery plan. 

Activation 

Recovery is an essential aspect of responses to an incident or disaster when the response begins 13 . There will be an activation of the local recovery arrangement once the response phase reaches the lean forward phase. Based on the nature, location, and size of the disaster event, the management of recovery activities can take place at either the local or district levels. The support needed will depend on the recovery framework developed by the Rangewood Disaster Management Committee for every disaster. Specific factors to be included in activating the local recovery group will include; 

Degree of the impact of the disaster. 

Geographical level of the disaster, 

Duration and presence of the hazard. 

Major issues that affect public health. 

Disruption or contamination of food or water supply. 

Disruption of essential services such as water, communication, and transport. 

The potential number of individuals that need evacuations. 

The level of vulnerability of the individuals affected. 

The profile of the individuals affected. 

The City Council disaster recovery committee will structure and implement disaster-specific plans that present a coordinated approach to various parts of recovery services. It is essential to understand that members of this committee may be need to provide responses to localized events even when formal activation has not been conducted. 

Recovery Operations 

The members of the City usually act as the first responders at the time of the disaster and take action for their own protection and protection of those around them. The shift from response to recover will be guided by: 

Situation response that highlights an increase in response operations. 

Impacts and need assessments. 

The anticipation of recovery plans. 

Operational Recovery Plan 

Once a disaster even takes a plan, making plans for community recovery will involve the identification of those with the highest levels of vulnerability and ensure that their needs are catered to 14 . The plan will be structured by the local recover group when a disaster is expected to occur or has already take place and involves; 

Existing priorities for recovery 

Considerations of local capabilities 

Restoring critical infrastructure and services. 

Metrics for tracking progress. 

Evaluation of funding structures. 

Impact and Needs Assessment 

Impact assessment is the process of collecting and conducting an analysis of information following an emergency or disaster for the estimation of 15 ; 

Degree of loss or injury to human life 

Damage to property and infrastructure 

The needs of the affected individuals for assistance 

These assessments will be conducted to provide disaster management groups with a channel of comprehensive, standardized information on the effect of the event. The information will be utilized to set priorities and make decisions that relate to the response to an emergency or disaster. 

Two types of impact assessment will be conducted, post-impact assessment and needs assessment. The post-impact assessment will focus on examining the way that the hazard has impacted the community. In contrast, needs assessment will involve examining the type, level, and priorities of assistance required. 

Conclusion 

Creating a hazard mitigation plan is essential to informing a variety of activities for reducing risk, such as the design of mitigation measures such as flood protection to conducting a macro-level assessment of the hazards to different aspects of the City 16 . Moreover, the appropriate communication of risk information at the proper time will increase awareness and support activities within the borders of the City. A disaster recovery plan is also essential to help the city when the disasters actually occur. This is because hazard mitigation will reduce the level of vulnerability and exposure of the City, enabling disaster recovery services ad efforts to be easily applied. 

Recommendations 

Based on the plan, the following recommendations exist for the City Council, concerning improving the applicability and implementation of the plans; 

The council should create a strategy for the coordination of the recovery activities established. 

A framework should be structured for the implementation of resources by different agencies to meet the particular needs of a disaster event 17 . 

As the city faces different disasters, a disaster-particular operation plans. 

A hierarchical framework should be employed for the distribution of staff to the activities identified in both plans. 

Acquisition of critical infrastructure should be conducted to facilitate the providing recovery services. 

References 

Bethel, M., Braud, D., Lambeth, T., Biber, P., & Wu, W. (2017). Determining Coastal Hazards Risk Perception to Enhance Local Mitigation Planning through a Participatory Mapping Approach.  AGUFM ,  2017 , U32A-05. 

Coffey, M., Sagala, S., & Wulandari, Y. (2017). The role of Post Disaster Needs Assessments in adressing vulnerability of Internally Displaced Persons in the Post Disaster Recovery Process. 

Finucane, M. L., Acosta, J., Wicker, A., & Whipkey, K. (2020). Short-Term Solutions to a Long-Term Challenge: Rethinking Disaster Recovery Planning to Reduce Vulnerabilities and Inequities.  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ,  17 (2), 482. 

Horney, J., Dwyer, C., Chirra, B., McCarthy, K., Shafer, J., & Smith, G. (2018). Measuring Successful Disaster Recovery.  International Journal of Mass Emergencies & Disasters ,  36 (1). 

Horney, J., Nguyen, M., Salvesen, D., Tomasco, O., & Berke, P. (2016). Engaging the public in planning for disaster recovery.  International journal of disaster risk reduction ,  17 , 33-37. 

Kulkarni, T. S., Stone, R. S., Oates, L., & Smith, S. (2019). State Hazard Mitigation Planning: Moving from Risk to Resilience in Vermont.  Natural Hazards Review ,  20 (4), 06019001. 

Lindell, M. K. (Ed.). (2019).  The Routledge Handbook of Urban Disaster Resilience: Integrating Mitigation, Preparedness, and Recovery Planning . Routledge. 

van Delden, H., Riddell, G. A., Vanhout, R., Newman, J. P., Zecchin, A. C., Maier, H. R., & Dandy, G. C. (2016). Integrating participation and modelling to support natural hazard mitigation planning. 

1 Lindell, M. K. (Ed.). (2019).  The Routledge Handbook of Urban Disaster Resilience: Integrating Mitigation, Preparedness, and Recovery Planning . Routledge.

2 Lindell, M. K. (Ed.). (2019).  The Routledge Handbook of Urban Disaster Resilience: Integrating Mitigation, Preparedness, and Recovery Planning . Routledge.

3 Horney, J., Nguyen, M., Salvesen, D., Tomasco, O., & Berke, P. (2016). Engaging the public in planning for disaster recovery.  International journal of disaster risk reduction ,  17 , 33-37.

4 van Delden, H., Riddell, G. A., Vanhout, R., Newman, J. P., Zecchin, A. C., Maier, H. R., & Dandy, G. C. (2016). Integrating participation and modelling to support natural hazard mitigation planning.

5 Kulkarni, T. S., Stone, R. S., Oates, L., & Smith, S. (2019). State Hazard Mitigation Planning: Moving from Risk to Resilience in Vermont.  Natural Hazards Review ,  20 (4), 06019001.

6 Lindell, M. K. (Ed.). (2019).  The Routledge Handbook of Urban Disaster Resilience: Integrating Mitigation, Preparedness, and Recovery Planning . Routledge.

7 Kulkarni, T. S., Stone, R. S., Oates, L., & Smith, S. (2019). State Hazard Mitigation Planning: Moving from Risk to Resilience in Vermont.  Natural Hazards Review ,  20 (4), 06019001.

8 van Delden, H., Riddell, G. A., Vanhout, R., Newman, J. P., Zecchin, A. C., Maier, H. R., & Dandy, G. C. (2016). Integrating participation and modelling to support natural hazard mitigation planning.

9 Bethel, M., Braud, D., Lambeth, T., Biber, P., & Wu, W. (2017). Determining Coastal Hazards Risk Perception to Enhance Local Mitigation Planning through a Participatory Mapping Approach.  AGUFM ,  2017 , U32A-05.

10 Kulkarni, T. S., Stone, R. S., Oates, L., & Smith, S. (2019). State Hazard Mitigation Planning: Moving from Risk to Resilience in Vermont.  Natural Hazards Review ,  20 (4), 06019001.

11 Lindell, M. K. (Ed.). (2019).  The Routledge Handbook of Urban Disaster Resilience: Integrating Mitigation, Preparedness, and Recovery Planning . Routledge.

12 Lindell, M. K. (Ed.). (2019).  The Routledge Handbook of Urban Disaster Resilience: Integrating Mitigation, Preparedness, and Recovery Planning . Routledge.

13 Finucane, M. L., Acosta, J., Wicker, A., & Whipkey, K. (2020). Short-Term Solutions to a Long-Term Challenge: Rethinking Disaster Recovery Planning to Reduce Vulnerabilities and Inequities.  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ,  17 (2), 482.

14 Finucane, M. L., Acosta, J., Wicker, A., & Whipkey, K. (2020). Short-Term Solutions to a Long-Term Challenge: Rethinking Disaster Recovery Planning to Reduce Vulnerabilities and Inequities.  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ,  17 (2), 482.

15 Coffey, M., Sagala, S., & Wulandari, Y. (2017). The role of Post Disaster Needs Assessments in adressing vulnerability of Internally Displaced Persons in the Post Disaster Recovery Process.

16 van Delden, H., Riddell, G. A., Vanhout, R., Newman, J. P., Zecchin, A. C., Maier, H. R., & Dandy, G. C. (2016). Integrating participation and modelling to support natural hazard mitigation planning.

17 Horney, J., Dwyer, C., Chirra, B., McCarthy, K., Shafer, J., & Smith, G. (2018). Measuring Successful Disaster Recovery.  International Journal of Mass Emergencies & Disasters ,  36 (1).