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Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Tool (RVAT)
Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Steps Critical Facilities Analysis and Extended Discussion Print VersionWhy would I do this analysis?This analysis focuses on determining the vulnerabilities of key individual facilities, lifelines, or resources within the community. Because these facilities play a central role in disaster response and recovery, it is important to protect critical facilities to ensure that service interruption is reduced or eliminated. Usually, it is not feasible to conduct a structural and/or operational analysis for every structure in a community. This step helps to prioritize which facilities are most vulnerable, so that individual assessments may be performed later. Give me an example of something I might do in this analysis.
You then overlay the critical facility locations with your existing risk areas layer. You find that a number of critical facilities are located within hazard areas, yet scarce resources limit you to analyzing only those facilities that are located within the highest risk hazard zones. You then perform in-depth structural and operational analyses on the selected facilities, collecting data such as construction type and quality, age, size, footprint, building capacity, presence or absence of auxiliary power, we well as other pertinent information. You then educate facility personnel on potential hazards and collaborate with them to identify hazard mitigation measures to prevent or reduce future losses. What are my steps?
What data will I need?Specific Datasets/layers for types of critical facilities:
Recommended information for each facility inventory:
Recommended information to be collected during individual assessments:Structural:
Operational:
Where can I obtain these data and information?Some of the data listed above are made available through the Internet. Regional and state agencies are likely to have downloadable data. Data not available through the Internet can potentially be obtained directly from each facility. Contacting the facility or building manager can yield valuable information about the site. Listed below are possible locations for data. You may also want to visit the Data Dictionary for an extensive listing of spatial data.
Who do I need to work with? What agencies can help me locate the necessary data and information?To access many of these governmental and organizational Web sites, view the Links page. Local (county or municipality) — Department of Transportation, Utility and Power Companies, Communications, Housing Authority, Business Groups/Associations, Chamber of Commerce, Historical Preservation Office, School Boards, Colleges and Universities, Property Developers, Planning Office, Public Works, Nursing Homes, Hospitals, Animal Care, Landfill/Solid Waste sites, Pump Stations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the American Red Cross, and other. Regional (state or states) — State Division of Emergency Management, State Department of Environmental Protection, County GIS Office, and other. National (federal) — FEMA (HAZUS loss estimation methodology), BPAT (Building Performance Assessment Team) facility vulnerability assessment program, NGOs, NASA, Military, and other. Potential Partners/Stakeholders ListLocal (county or municipality)
Regional (state or states)
National (federal)
Extended DiscussionObjective:Identify, map, and gather information about critical facilities Purpose:Prioritize which critical facilities should be further assessed and considered for hazard mitigation measures that will prevent or minimize future damage from hazards Primary Steps:
DescriptionThis analysis focuses on determining the vulnerability of key individual facilities, lifelines, or resources within the community. It is important to protect critical facilities to ensure that service interruption is reduced or eliminated, because many of these facilities play a central role in disaster response and recovery. Since it is not usually feasible to conduct such an analysis for every structure in a community, you should focus on identifying the categories of structures that you would consider "critical" for purposes of conducting individual facility assessments. Identify critical facilities categoriesThe completion of a critical facilities analysis is probably one of the most important elements in a community-wide vulnerability assessment. The first step in this analysis is to determine which facilities you consider to be critical. Start by determining your facilities categories and prepare to organize your database accordingly. Critical Facility categories include but are not limited to the following:
Complete a critical facilities inventoryNext, establish a critical facilities database by collecting some general information. The type and amount of information collected depends on your intended use of the database, but at a minimum should contain information identifying facility types and locations. Most local emergency management offices maintain information on certain categories of critical facilities. This information may provide a starting point for your critical facilities inventory. It is important to collect accurate information about these facilities and their locations as these data will be essential for completing the individual facility assessments in the next step of this analysis. Examples of information to collect for each critical facility include the following:
Identify intersections of critical facilities with high-risk areasTo help prioritize potential hazard mitigation measures for critical facilities, you should identify risk area scores for each of the critical facilities. Overlay the critical facilities with the hazard risk areas. The result of this step is a score for each critical facility that corresponds to the facility location within the hazard risk areas. Hazard risk is associated with each critical facility. Structures that are located in high-risk areas are given a higher score than structures located in low-risk areas. The structures located in high-risk areas are targeted as priority facilities for conducting detailed structural and operational vulnerability analyses. Conduct vulnerability assessments on selected critical facilitiesFor each critical facility that you have prioritized, conduct an individual assessment addressing the location of the facility and the potential impacts of each hazard. The facility assessment should be designed with questions that address the elements of vulnerability you are most concerned about and the results should be weighed accordingly (i.e., structural vulnerability versus operational vulnerability). If you are focusing on minimizing repetitive losses, you may wish to investigate damage history. To help you keep the assessment manageable, you may choose to conduct a detailed structural analysis focused on only one or two of the primary hazard threats. Whatever the case, it is important to design questions that are appropriate for the intended audience or investigators. Some questions may require professionally trained inspectors or engineers, while others may rely on subjective evaluations from facility managers or owners. The result of this analysis is a systematic assessment of the vulnerability of critical lifelines or key resources to various hazard impacts. Mitigation projects for critical facilities can now be identified and prioritized. Results from a Critical Facility Vulnerability AssessmentStructural:
Operational:
Table 1. Example of a critical facility assessment
How to use this TableTo determine which hazards pose the greatest threat to the community, each of the sections below will be added together for each individual hazard. Section (1) Hazard PriorityAfter scoring the hazards using the hazards priority matrix calculations, you will get a total score for each hazard based on the frequency, area impact, and magnitude of each hazard that you have identified. For example, Volusia County prioritized flooding as being the greatest threat to the community relative to the other hazards identified in the relative priority matrix. Section (2) Risk Area ScoreRisk areas identify geographically (on maps) those areas most likely to be affected by a given hazard. These scores are based on the degree of potential damage. For example, a higher risk score would be assigned to a facility (that is below the base flood elevation*) located in a 100-year floodplain versus an area that is in the 500-year floodplain. Enter the scores for each hazard risk area wherein the facility is located. *Base Flood Elevation pertains to the highest flood level recorded in a particular location. Section (3) Damage History ScoreBased on historical records or personal accounts, identify any known previous damages caused specifically by each of the hazards. This should help estimate vulnerability based on past damage experience. The scoring range in this category is higher than that in the structural and operational categories because the determination is less subjective and serves as direct proof of vulnerability. If no damages have historically occurred, it implies that the level of vulnerability is reduced. Keep in mind however, that a damage-free past does not guarantee a damage-free future. This score ranges from "0" for no damage history to "6" for major or repetitive damage.
Section (4) Structural Vulnerability ScoreThis item requires some knowledge about the construction of the facility and the existing building codes governing local construction. While this assessment is rather subjective, it is a first-level effort at identifying facilities that require more thorough structural investigation. Lower numbers in sections 3 and 4 could potentially indicate reduced vulnerability. Conversely, higher numbers in sections 3 and 4 could potentially indicate increased vulnerability of the facility itself, as well an increase in its operational vulnerability. Section (5) Operational Vulnerability ScoreThis item requires knowledge of where daily activities are conducted within the structure. This is necessary to determine which areas of the structure are important to conducting critical daily activities. For example, if the first floor of a fire station sustains major flood damage, which includes the destruction of the firefighters' sleeping quarters and fire trucks, it would greatly hamper fire response capabilities. Therefore, the operational vulnerability score would be defined as having "life-threatening impacts," as firefighters would not be readily available to respond to a call. Loss of facilities alone does not necessarily constitute significant loss of operational capability. For example, if only the fire station garage was damaged, but the trucks and equipment had been relocated to higher ground before the flooding occurred, and the sleeping quarters and kitchen were located on the second floor this would not have as great an effect on operations. Facility Vulnerability ScoreThe items should be totaled to determine an overall score. Whereas individual item scores should be compared to establish trends and identify specific deficiencies, the total score can help establish a broad prioritization option. Vulnerability DeterminationBased on all of the scores for an individual facility, some threshold should be established for determining low, moderate, and high vulnerability. These thresholds will help to establish a focused list of vulnerable critical facilities. |
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Once
you have completed an inventory of critical facilities in your area, you should
have data on facility type and location. These facilities include police stations,
fire and rescue facilities, hospitals, shelters, schools, nursing homes, and any
other structures deemed essential by the community.
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Updated on July 24, 2007