Overview of this CD-ROM

• Summary
• Layout of This CD-ROM
• Background
• Tutorials

Summary

This project is an informational aid designed to assist communities in their efforts to reduce hazard vulnerability. Before communities can develop effective hazard mitigation strategies, they must first identify their hazard risks and assess their vulnerability to the impacts of those hazards. This CD-ROM includes a newly developed methodology for conducting a community-wide vulnerability assessment. The general methodology is included as a tutorial that steps the user through a process of analyzing physical, social, economic, and environmental vulnerability at the community level. The foundation for the methodology was established by the Heinz Center Panel on Risk, Vulnerability, and the True Cost of Hazards (1999).

Also included on this CD-ROM is a comprehensive case study on the application of the vulnerability assessment methodology. New Hanover County, North Carolina, was a pilot community for this methodology resulting in an illustrative case study. New Hanover County, as one of the original seven pilot communities for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Project Impact Initiative, embarked on a long-range hazard mitigation planning effort that included the development of a community vulnerability assessment. Not only were there ample data available to support the development of a vulnerability assessment but there were also substantial data available on hazard impacts associated with several recent hazard events in New Hanover County.

In addition to demonstrating the vulnerability assessment methodology, the case study illustrates the use of geographic information system (GIS) technology as a valuable resource for conducting hazards-related analysis. A major feature of this product is a section focusing on the use of spatial data for hazards planning. Several relevant GIS and remote sensing applications are introduced as potential tools for supporting detailed hazards analysis.

Layout of This CD-ROM

Figure 1.1

Background

This project was initiated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coastal Services Center in collaboration with the FEMA and the New Hanover County Department of Emergency Management.

FEMA’s national hazard mitigation initiative (Project Impact) initially began with seven pilot communities that were challenged with engaging local government, businesses, and civic leaders in coordinated efforts to reduce hazard vulnerability. As one of the original seven pilot communities, New Hanover County needed to first identify and understand its hazard risks and vulnerabilities. As part of an ongoing effort to encourage and support coastal hazard mitigation, NOAA's Coastal Services Center provided technical assistance to New Hanover County’s Project Impact Initiative. The overall goal for Center involvement was to develop and implement a vulnerability assessment methodology that results in a foundation for identifying and prioritizing community-based hazard mitigation activities. This CD-ROM has been developed as an educational tool for use in similar efforts throughout the country.

This CD-ROM is a product of a year-long collaboration with New Hanover County’s Project Impact Risk Assessment and Hazard Identification Sub-committee. New Hanover County’s process, and this committee in particular, served to guide the design of the vulnerability assessment methodology. Even more critically, New Hanover County’s use of this methodology provided the essential demonstration of its applicability to local hazard mitigation planning.

Tutorials

This CD-ROM contains a number of tutorials designed to assist in hazard planning activities. These tutorials include:

• Vulnerability Assessment Tutorial: provides a step-by-step guide for developing a comprehensive community vulnerability assessment

• LIDAR Tutorials and Extensions: provides instructions and tools for using LIDAR beach mapping data in a GIS

• Damage Assessment Tool Tutorial: provides instructions for using this GIS tool to accurately assess disaster damages