With the input of community partners and residents, the City of New Rochelle has completed the creation of a draft Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan which identifies projects that can reduce or mitigate damages that may incur from future natural disasters. The creation of the draft plan over the past 12 months was funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and prepared in accordance with state and federal standards. It has been submitted to FEMA for approval.
“This plan will allow the City to apply for funds to implement improvements after a disaster,” said Assistant to the City Manager, Omar T. Small. “Without this assistance, implementation would be costly, and even cost-prohibitive.”
To assist the study team in assessing the nature, extent and probability of various hazards in New Rochelle, a 23-question on-line survey was created for residents to complete and a series of public meetings were held. Information was posted on the City website www.newrochelleny.com/
hazardmitigation.
The Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan identifies projects that can reduce damages from future natural hazards and includes a risk assessment and a hazard-mitigation strategy of four phases: Phase I identifies hazards that may impact the county and its municipalities; Phase II profiles the relevant hazards and their potential consequences; Phase III identifies assets that are subject to losses or damage, including physical structures, functions and populations; and Phase IV estimates the potential losses that could result from each type of hazard. Following the risk assessment, a list of hazard-prioritized actions designed to reduce losses was created.
The draft Multi-Hazard Mitigation plan can be viewed online on the City of New Rochelle website.
