Hazard Mitigation Planning Essay -- Natural Disasters

Executive summary Hazard mitigation planning is an approach aimed at ascertaining ways to reduce the effects, deaths and damage to property that might result in the occurrence of a natural of man-made hazard. Hurricanes are among the costliest and the most destructive of natural disasters. Since 1995, the United States has witnessed more intense activities by hurricanes with Mobile County in Alabama experiencing hurricane Ivan and hurricane Dennis in 2004 and 2005 (Link, 2010). In 2005, Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes to have hit the United States and was rated category three in Mobile County (Marchi, 2007). The response to the disaster was poor owing to the lack of proper disaster preparedness as well as hazard mitigation planning. The very possibility of a hurricane hitting Alabama in the near future-within which the County of Mobile is located- appears as a near certainty going by past occurrences. The authorities as well as the community in Mobile County need to be more prepared for disasters by instituting hazard mitigation measures. These measures should be actualized through an effort by the County authorities in conjunction with the major s takeholders to put together a team that will comprehensively analyze hurricane Katrina and other past hurricanes affecting Mobile County. The Hurricane mitigation plan for the city of Mobile sets out the available resources and important information that would assist the community in reducingthe effects of a hurricane that might occur in future. The plan concentrates on measures and actions that can be put in place to reduce the effects of a hurricane. It covers an assessment of risk, sets out a strategy for minimizing the effects, and present... ... Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. Ocean Engineering, 37(1), 4-12. Marchi, B. D. (2007). Not Just a matter of Knowledge: The Katrina Debacle. Environmental Hazards, 7(2), 141-149. Rodiek J. (2007). Landscape Planning in Hazardous Zones, Lessons from Hurricane Katrina, August 2005. Landscape and Urban Planning, 79(1), 1-4. Sadowski N. & Sutter D. (2008). Mitigation Motivated by Past Experience: Prior Hurricanes and Damages. Ocean and Coastal Management, 51(4), 303-313. Waugh, W. (2006). Shelter from the Storm: Repairing the National Emergency Management System after Hurricane Katrina. Michigan City: SAGE Publications. Yarnal B. (2007). Vulnerability and all that Jazz: Addressing Vulnerability in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Technology in Society, 29(2), 249-255. Forren J. (2005). Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Peri Anesthesia Nursing, 20(5), 303-304.