HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN

Anyone in this region who resided here during Hurricane Isabel in 2003 or more recently, Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee or the Mineral earthquake can take comfort in the knowledge that a group of local officials are working to update plans to mitigate the damage from natural disasters.  Our region is vulnerable to a number of natural disasters, including the effects of flood and wind damage caused by hurricanes, northeasters, winter storms and tornadoes.  Earthquakes are now on the list.

For the most part, the last 50 years have been relatively free of disasters throughout the GWRC

region.  However, the last few decades of exponential growth within the region have placed more developments in the way of natural disasters.  This increases the potential for severe economic and social consequences if a major disaster or other catastrophic event were to occur.  Such an event could cost local governments, residents and businesses millions of dollars in damages to public buildings and infrastructure, lost tax revenues, unemployment, homelessness and emotional and physical suffering for years.

The George Washington Regional Commission (GWRC) has been tasked by the federal and state government to work with local officials to update the region’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.  These officials serve on the George Washington Mitigation Advisory Committee (MAC).  It is comprised of local emergency management and planning officials, along with GWRC and Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) personnel, who provide day-to-day plan development guidance and draft review.  They represent the City of Fredericksburg, the Towns of Bowling Green and Port Royal and the Counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford.

The GWRC Hazard Mitigation Plan provides communities and its citizens with a better understanding of our potential natural disasters, the assets vulnerable to those hazards and strategies available to mitigate the adverse impact of those hazards.  The plan helps communities build support for mitigation activities, develop more effective public education policies and integrate mitigation processes into other community programs.  It also outlines the post-disaster processes and activities needed to obtain grants in the aftermath of a disaster.

The region’s original Hazard Mitigation Plan was established in 2006.  As required by the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, that plan has been updated by the MAC and is now available for final review by all localities, citizens, businesses, private and non-profit organizations in the region.

The plan identifies natural hazards that threaten regional jurisdictions; ranks these hazards; predicts the likely impacts of those hazards and assesses the vulnerability of its communities to the hazards, as well as the region’s current capability to address those hazards.  The plan also sets mitigation goals and determines and prioritizes appropriate strategies that would lessen the potential impacts of hazard events.  While the mitigation strategies mostly relate to public facilities, the Plan also addresses potential private sector losses due to such recurring hazards as flooding effects on properties located in the floodplain.

An action plan is recommended for each prioritized mitigation measure.  The action plan designates the responsible office, prioritizes the measure, estimates the cost of mitigation, predicts the benefit to the community, identifies potential funding sources and develops a schedule for completion.

As an example, the existing Plan identified the need for better flood stage monitoring in the Rappahannock River to provide more advance warning of potential flash flooding hazard within the City of Fredericksburg.  With the support of the Plan’s recommendation, the City received a FEMA grant through VDEM for an in-stream flow monitoring station that is part of the City’s early flood warning system.

The Hazard Mitigation Plan not only addresses current concerns, but will also guide and coordinate mitigation activities and local policy decisions for future land use.  FEMA has encouraged communities throughout the United States to incorporate hazard mitigation planning into the local comprehensive planning process.  As communities make decisions on future growth, development and land use, the incorporation of hazard mitigation analysis into the process promises to reduce future damage from natural hazards that will inevitably occur over time, avoiding future loss of life and property damage.

Each jurisdiction’s elected leadership will be asked to adopt the portions of the plan that apply region-wide and those that apply to their locality.   Each jurisdiction will then be responsible for updating and maintaining the plan document.  Federal law requires each jurisdiction to review its plan at least once every five years, coinciding with the state law calling for local Comprehensive Plan review every five years.  The final plan must also be adopted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in order for projects to be eligible for certain federal grants related to hazard mitigation.

The Hazard Mitigation Plan is available for review on the GWRC website at  www.gwregion.org.

Interested citizens, businesses, private and public organizations are encouraged to review the plan and provide their comments between now and Feb 7.

-Kevin F. Byrnes, AICP

Kevin F. Byrnes, AICP is Chairman, George Washington Mitigation Planning Committee & GWRC Director of Regional Planning