2005-070 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OVERVIEW In 1992 , Hurricane Andrew left South Florida devastated . In its wake , it left the area struggling to recover from $ 27 billion in damages . In 1997 , wildland fire burned Flagler County. During the spring of that same year, tornadoes ripped throug i Osceola and Volusia counties , leaving not only destroyed homes , but also fatalities in their path . In 1998 , nearly 50 homes were consumed by wildland fire in Port St . Lucie . All these events could have occurred in Indian River County ; fortunately, none did . Natural hazards are not the only type of hazards that create disaster situations . Disaster management changed forever following the events of September 11th in New York City and Washington D . 0 Mitigating and responding to technological hazards have come to the forefront of emergency management. Throughout the state , technological disasters occur daily - truc rollovers , communication failures , toxic spills , and wellfield contamination . These type of events as well as other historic disasters led the Florida Department of Community Affai s to create the Local Mitigation Strategy ( LMS ) Program . The goal of the program was to encourage public and private sector entities to take actions that permanently reduce or eliminate the long -term risk to people and property from the different types of hazards faced by Florida residents . Both public and private sectors win by developing an LMS . It leads to • reducing future vulnerability to disasters ; • reducing the time (and cost) of recovery from such events when they do **W happen ; • minimizing disruption to the local economy; • facilitating recovery and the receipt of post-disaster funding ; an • educating and informing the public about hazards and steps they can take to mitigate the effects . INITIATING ACTION In 1998 , Indian River County , along with all the municipalities , the local business community , and non-profit organizations such as the American Red Cross , joined together to develop a countywide LMS . During that time , the Indian River County LMS Working Group , the policy body for this program , has had the responsibility for developing the LMS . This group focused on achieving two key results : • the creation of a long -term LMS planning process ; and • the development of the LMS document itself along with a list of prioritized mitigation projects . In the year 2000 , the Federal Emergency Management Agency' s ( EMA' s ) recognition of the growing costs of responding to and recovering from disasters materialized in the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 ( DMA2K) . DMA2K created a new Pre- Disaster Mitigation ( PDM ) Program aimed at reducing the cost of disasters as well as ri 3k through comprehensive planning before disasters occur. DMA2K requires that all com unities , tribes , and states have a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan consistent wi h the DMA2K requirements in place to retain eligibility for PC .kM project funds and post-disast 1. r Hazard ES- 1