Monterey County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan and the efforts behind it are featured in a National Association of Counties (NACo) report on counties which are reducing their vulnerability to the threats of severe weather conditions. The full report, “Severe Weather Adaptation: Coastal Resiliency County Case Studies Volume 2,” is available on the NACo website and features Monterey County as well as Monmouth, New Jersey and Calvert County, Maryland.
By definition, hazard mitigation is ‘any action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from natural hazards.’
According to NACo, in 2011, weather disasters cost the United States more than $35 billion. The aim of the report is to share successful efforts in reducing the threats and results of weather disasters with other communities.
In the Monterey County case study article, the unique partnerships created to update the existing hazard mitigation plan are explored. Both NACo and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) are partners in the plan process as is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Monterey County was designated a national pilot community for incorporating data and tools available through NOAA’s ‘Digital Coast’ into its hazard mitigation planning. ‘Digital Coast’ is a web-based platform which offers powerful tools to assist users in accessing data on coastal vulnerability, simulating projections of impacts, creating publishable visualizations and ‘snapshots’ of potential future scenarios, including risk assessments taking climate change issues such as sea level rise into consideration.
NACo became a partner in the county planning process when it was contacted by NOAA and Digital Coast for assistance in the development of the community outreach portion of the plan. NACo has been a national supporter of Digital Coast since 2008 and was intrigued with the integration of sea level rise in a hazard mitigation plan and how communities would react to it. NACo provided funding for community outreach efforts which were completed last year.
“The Hazard Mitigation Plan is in final draft form and has been submitted to the State of California for review,” explains Emergency Services Manager Sherrie Collins, who says the plan still has more stops along the way to final approval. “Once the State has completed its review it will be forwarded to FEMA. If FEMA approves, it will be sent back to us with a tentative approval pending adoption by all cities and the county. I anticipate that we will have the plan fully adopted by the end of 2015.”
The final draft overview can be found on the Office of Emergency Services website.
Collins says the news about Monterey County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan efforts is getting around. After the case studies document came out, she was contacted by a number of climate change symposiums to speak, and will be a featured speaker at the California American Planners Association meeting in October.
