Sharing the effort

When initiating the statewide effort to encourage development of Local Mitigation Strategies, the Florida Department of Community Affairs recognized that it had a responsibility to provide counties and cities the financial and technical support needed to successfully complete the process. Therefore, the Department has made funding available to every county and municipality to defray the casts of developing Local Mitigation Strategies. The Department is also offering technical support to local planning groups in all aspects of the strategy development process, including vulnerability assessments. With this support, local mitigation planning organizations will have both the financial and technical resources necessary to conduct a vulnerability assessment and utilize the findings in their Local Mitigation Strategy.

This section summarizes the financial and technical support that is available from the Department, focusing on the vulnerability assessment effort. It also highlights the responsibilities of county and municipal government and local mitigation planning groups to complete the vulnerability assessment to ensure their Local Mitigation Strategy will effectively address the major hazards threatening their community.

Financial support from the Department

Beginning in February, 1998, the Department of Community Affairs has offered every county and incorporated municipality in the state the funding needed to prepare a Local Mitigation Strategy in accord with the state's Guidebook. The amount of funding for each jurisdiction is based on its vulnerability, repetitive disaster losses, population, and participation in mutual aid programs. The funding is provided to county governments who enter into contracts with the Department to complete a mitigation strategy in accord with the provisions of the state's Guidebook. Counties in turn are expected to subcontract with their municipalities to jointly prepare a unified and coordinated countywide mitigation strategy.

The funding is also intended to support the vulnerability assessment process as a part of the development of a Local Mitigation Strategy. Even if a municipality chooses not to participate in preparation of a Local Mitigation Strategy, the county can use a portion of that municipality's allotment to finance the vulnerability assessment process for that jurisdiction. Therefore, funding is available to all of Florida's local governments to conduct a vulnerability assessment and to use it in preparation of a Local Mitigation Strategy.

 Technical support from the Department

The Department also recognizes that some local jurisdictions do not have the resources to conduct a comprehensive vulnerability assessment. Therefore, as a part of the technical support being provided by the Department, assistance is available to obtain a complete computer analysis of each community*s vulnerability to tropical cyclone hazards.

Using basic data provided by local governments and planning organizations, the Department will conduct a statewide storm hazard modeling effort using the "The Arbiter of Storms" (TAOS) computer model. This model can assess factors such as the category of storm, forward movement, wind speed, maximum radius of winds, and storm direction while considering ocean bathymetry, land elevation and cover, and the effects of urbanization. The results of the TAOS model will provide each working group with an estimate of water level, wind speed and debris amounts for specific categories of storms. This analysis will create an enhanced database to support local planners as they complete the vulnerability assessment and prepare the local mitigation strategy. The TAOS results are only intended to support preparation of Local Mitigation Strategies. They are not designed to replace the analyses generated by the "Sea and Lake Overland Surge from Hurricane" (SLOSH) model and now used by many Florida coastal counties for evacuation planning.

The TAOS model results will also provide the Department with a statewide analysis of the potential for hurricane storm damage — all based on a consistent, valid set of assumptions and technical methodology. Such information has not been available before and will be very valuable in identifying the state's priorities for hazard mitigation programming.

Additional details of how local planning organizations can participate in the TAOS modeling effort are provided in the next section.

Responsibilities of local governments

A contract between the Department and a county to receive funding for development of a Local Mitigation Strategy will mean that local planning organization will be expected to follow the state's Guidebook during the planning process.

Within this fundamental requirement, a "Working Group" of local public and private sector representatives would be established to conduct the planning effort. If the Working Group has formed subcommittees, it would be logical for one of these to be assigned responsibility for completing the vulnerability assessment process. If subcommittees have not been created, then the Working Group itself would complete the assessment process. Regardless of who undertakes the assessment process, it will also be important to ensure that they have both the support and involvement of local agencies, organizations, and businesses.

County and municipal agencies will need to assist the individuals undertaking the vulnerability assessment as they gather the information needed to complete the assessment. Demographic data, land use plans, property values, damages from past disasters, and similar information will all be important in the assessment process. The Department of Community Affairs can also incorporate portions of this and similar information gathered by the Working Group into the TAOS modeling efforts being done for local planning organizations.

Local volunteer organizations, community associations, and business groups will also have information regarding the physical and economic vulnerabilities of the community, as well as additional expertise to support the process. The Working Group should take steps to encourage the involvement of these individuals in the vulnerability assessment process.

 An adequate number of personnel, with appropriate expertise, need to be designated by the Working Group for this assignment. These individuals should expect to complete the following tasks that make up the steps in the vulnerability assessment process:

• Identify the hazards threatening the community,
• Gather information about these hazards,
• Determine how the community is vulnerable to the hazards,
• Conduct a comprehensive risk analysis of the potential magnitude of disaster-caused losses and the frequency of occurrence, and
• Use the findings of the TAOS modeling from the Department and the Working Group's own analysis to support identification and prioritization of mitigation initiatives, as well as preparation of the Local Mitigation Strategy.

When it assigns responsibility for the vulnerability assessment, the Working Group should also take steps to solicit the cooperation of local government agencies and community organizations. Then, all of the individuals who will be participating in the vulnerability assessment can review the next sections of this Supplement to learn how to approach the planning that will be involved.