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 (Photo from Aug 2004, Lisbon flooding)
Mitigation While most disasters cannot be avoided, there are things people can do to lessen the loss of life and property damage. One of the lessons learned from recent catastrophic disasters is that after a disaster, roads, bridges and homes need to be rebuilt NOW. There is no time to relocate washed-out roads, redesign bridges or rewrite building codes. The result is that the community is rebuilt just the way it was before: vulnerable to the next disaster. Homes and businesses in flood-prone areas are flooded time and time again. The only way to break this disaster/recovery/disaster cycle is by identifying vulnerable areas before the disaster and taking appropriate steps to protect against the disaster and minimize the damage. Mitigation is defined as "sustained action that reduces or eliminates long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards and their effects." It describes the ongoing effort at the Federal, State, local, business, and individual efforts to lessen the impact of disasters upon our families, homes, communities and economy. Mitigation begins with local communities assessing their risks and repetitive problems and making a plan for creating solutions to these problems and reducing the vulnerability of its citizens and property to risk. Mitigation is the cornerstone of emergency management. It's the ongoing effort to lessen the impact disasters have on people's lives and property through damage prevention and flood insurance. Through measures such as, building safely within the floodplain or removing homes altogether; engineering buildings and infrastructures to withstand earthquakes: and creating and enforcing effective building codes to protect property from floods, hurricanes and other natural hazards, the impact on lives and communities is lessened. |