Step 1a: Identify hazards.

While it is advisable to conduct your vulnerability assessment for the multitude of hazard threats facing your community, there may be reasons for only addressing certain hazards. Limited hazard information or a limited focus on hazard mitigation strategies can sometimes dictate the hazards selected for this process. You may also choose to address some hazards primarily from their secondary impact potential. For example, hazardous spills may be evaluated as a potential impact associated with vulnerability to hurricanes, flooding, or earthquakes. 

For background information on New Hanover County Hazards, please visit the Hazard History Section. 

In New Hanover County, the following natural hazards were addressed in the vulnerability assessment: 

Hazardous spills and toxic release hazards were considered as secondary hazard impacts in Step 6-Environmental Analysis. 

Step 1b: Establish relative priorities for your hazards. 

The ideal method for assigning priorities to the various hazard threats would be a scientific, quantifiable probability assessment. Unfortunately, probability data are not consistent among the different hazard types, nor are they always available or useable at the local level. As an alternative, communities can develop a relative priority matrix to use as a general guide for addressing the different hazards. Designing such a matrix requires you to determine which factors are most critical to your community and assign weights accordingly. Factors can include hazard frequency, the amount of land typically impacted, or the magnitude of damages associated with the hazards. The purpose for this step is to initiate thought and discussion about the hazards and their potential impacts. It is a subjective exercise where the scores alone do not have absolute statistical significance. The comparison of hazard scores, however, will give you relative rankings that can guide your vulnerability assessment process as well as your hazard mitigation priorities.

The scoring system developed for New Hanover County:

*The frequency, area impact, and potential damage magnitude values are defined by a scale of numbers ranging from 1 to 5, where 1=low and 5=high.

Sample New Hanover County Relative Priority Matrix

Figure 3.1

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