Risk Assessment - St Louis

Risk Assessment -Alaska

Introduction

The purpose of hazard mitigation is to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from hazards. Bay St. Louis developed this Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) update to make the City and its residents less vulnerable to future hazard events. Similar to the 2005 LHMP, this plan was prepared pursuant to the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 so that Bay St. Louis would be eligible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Pre-Disaster Mitigation and Hazard Mitigation Grant programs as well as lower flood insurance premiums (in jurisdictions that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program's Community Rating System). The City followed a planning process prescribed by FEMA, which began with the formation of a hazard mitigation planning committee (HMPC) comprised of key county, city, and district representatives and other stakeholders. (Bay St. Louis Storm 2009) The HMPC conducted a risk assessment that identified and profiled hazards that pose a risk to Bay St. Louis, assessed vulnerability to these hazards, and examined the capabilities in place to mitigate them. Bay St. Louis is vulnerable to many hazards that are identified, profiled, and analyzed in this plan. Hurricanes, floods, severe weather, tornadoes and wildfires are among the hazards that can have a significant impact on the City .

Discussion

Bay St. Louis's topography is characterized by a coastal, sandy beach along the south, east and northern shore of the Bay of St. Louis. A ridge reaching an altitude of approximately 21 National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) runs east and west through the central part of the city stretching from south of the railroad northward to just south of U.S. Highway 90. The elevation of the ridge drops to below 10 feet near Watts Bayou and Joe's Bayou. In 2006, the City annexed lands lying to the northwest to just west of Mississippi Highway 603 and to the intersection of Highway 603 with Interstate 10. Elevations in Bay St. Louis now vary from 21 feet NGVD along the bluff running along the mouth of the Bay to a low only a foot or two near Bayou La Croix and Jourdan River in the annexed area along Highway 603. (City of Bay St. Louis 2009)

As defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), risk is a combination of hazard, vulnerability, and exposure. ?It is the impact that a hazard would have on people, services, facilities, and structures in a community and refers to the likelihood of a hazard event resulting in an adverse condition that causes injury or damage.

The risk assessment process identifies and profiles relevant hazards and assesses the exposure of lives, property, and infrastructure to these hazards. The process allows for a better understanding of a jurisdiction's potential risk to natural hazards and provides a framework for developing and prioritizing mitigation actions to reduce risk from future hazard events.

Using existing natural hazards data and input gained through planning meetings, the HMPC agreed upon a list of natural hazards that could affect Bay ...