The first half of the 1990s saw the largest and most costly floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes in the history of the United States. While natural hazards cannot be prevented, their human impacts can be greatly reduced through advance action that mitigates risks and reduces vulnerability.Natural Hazard Mitigation describes and analyzes the way that hazard mitigation has been carried out in the U.S. under our national disaster law, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. It is the first systematic study of the complete intergovernmental system for natural hazard mitigation, including its major elements and the linkages among them.The book: analyzes the effectiveness of the Stafford Act and investigates what is contained in state hazard mitigation plans required by the Act studies how federal hazard mitigation funds have been spent explores what goes into decision making following a major disaster looks at how government mitigation officials rate the effectiveness of the mitigation system suggests changes that could help solve the widely recognized problems with current methods of coping with disasters.Damages from natural disasters are reaching catastrophic proportions, making natural hazard mitigation an important national policy issue. The findings and recommendations presented in this volume should help to strengthen natural hazard mitigation policy and practice, thereby serving to reduce drains on the federal treasury that pay for preventable recovery and relief costs, and to spare residents in areas hit by natural disasters undue suffering and expense. It is an informative and eye-opening study for planners, policymakers, students of planning and geography, and professionals working for government agencies that deal with natural hazards.
Table of Figures Preface Acknowledgment
PART I. Coping with Floods Earthquakes, and Hurricanes: U.S. Hazard Mitigation Policy Chapter 1. Mitigating Natural Hazards: A National Challenge Chapter 2. Evolving Mitigation Policy Directions
PART II. Mitigation in Action: Six Disaster Cases Chapter 3. Florida after Hurricane Andrew Chapter 4. Missouri after The Midwest Floods of 1993 Chapter 5. Iowa after the Midwest Floods of 1993 Chapter 6. California after the Loma Prieta and Northridge Earthquakes Chapter 7. Massachusetts after Hurricane Bob and Other Storms Chapter 8. Tennessee after a Series of Floods and Storms
PART III. Assessing the National Mitigation System Chapter 9. State Hazard Mitigation Plans: Falling Short of Their Potential Chapter 10. The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program: Scattered Spending Chapter 11. State Implementation of Natural Disaster Mitigation Policy: A Flowed System
PART IV. Recanting the National Mitigation System Chapter 12. Ethical Guidelines for Hazard Mitigation Chapter 13. Natural Hazard Mitigation: Planning for Sustainable Communities
