Regions Reducing the
Burden of Disaster

Saving lives and protecting community infrastructure in the face of disaster requires resources, cooperation and time investments. Regional development organizations are frequently called upon to direct disaster recovery and mitigation planning, helping to lessen the economic burden of disasters.

Mitigation Saves Lives and Resources
In 1999, Hurricane George left coastal Alabama communities economically and physically crushed. In an effort to mitigate future regional disaster damages, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Project Impact program awarded the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission (RPC), an EDA funded district, $1.4 million to purchase and eliminate 16 homes located in floodplains, develop community disaster plans and continue community outreach. According to Tina Sanchez, South Alabama RPC’s Director of Environmental Planning, “Mitigation planning, in the long run, saves our region dollars and lives.”

One example of South Alabama RPC’s all hazard planning can be found in the city of Gulf Shores. This plan followed FEMA’s community rating system, because the community had nine locations where repetitive disaster losses occurred. The rating system’s ten-step plan was followed, requiring eight months of labor and community input. Sanchez explained the benefits, “Businesses get insurance discounts and the community in general is more disaster resistant.” Funding has been accomplished by combining state coastal zone management dollars and local matches.

Promoting Disaster Resistant Businesses
The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (Treasure Coast RPC), a four-county Economic Development Administration (EDA) funded district, in south Florida is home to 47,000 businesses of which 46,000 are small businesses, whose limited resources do not allow them the time or budget needed to prepare for a disaster.

Beginning October 2001, Greg Vaday, Treasure Coast RPC’s Regional Planner, will administer a recently awarded one-year $25,000 grant from EDA to help small business prepare for a disaster. A web-based interactive disaster planning and recovery tool for small businesses and outreach workshops will be developed. In addition, the incorporation of a disaster planning element in the region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) will be instituted.

The project objective is to reach at least one percent of the 46,000 small businesses to involve them in implementing the planning tools. Vaday explained, “With 98 percent of our region’s economy based on small business, filling the resource gap is a crucial need, especially when you consider that 40 percent of businesses never re-open after a disaster.” The information collected will be supplied to emergency responders, such as police, fire department and ambulance services.

Damage from Hurrican George on Dauphin Island in south Alabama

South Alabama RPC also recently received a $30,000 EDA grant to develop a regional disaster recovery plan and workshops focusing on the private sector’s capabilities and making jobs disaster resistant. Sanchez says, “It’s a contingency plan, meaning we lessen the time period for business shut down in natural or manmade disasters. It broadens our approach to include economic mitigation.” The effort will take about 760 person-hours, local matching funds and one year to generate business mitigation guidelines. l

For more information contact, Tina Sanchez of South Alabama RPC at (334) 433-6541 and Greg Vaday of Treasure Coast RPC at (561) 221-4060.

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