Natural Hazard Mitigation: Recasting Disaster Policy And Planning

David Godschalk · Timothy Beatley · Philip Berke · David Brower · Edward J. Kaiser

Apr 2013 · Island Press

About this ebook

The first half of the 1990s saw the largest and most costly floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes in the history of the United States. While natural hazards cannot be prevented, their human impacts can be greatly reduced through advance action that mitigates risks and reduces vulnerability.

Natural Hazard Mitigation describes and analyzes the way that hazard mitigation has been carried out in the U.S. under our national disaster law, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. It is the first systematic study of the complete intergovernmental system for natural hazard mitigation, including its major elements and the linkages among them.

The book:

• analyzes the effectiveness of the Stafford Act and investigates what is contained in state hazard mitigation plans required by the Act
• studies how federal hazard mitigation funds have been spent
• explores what goes into decision making following a major disaster
• looks at how government mitigation officials rate the effectiveness of the mitigation system
• suggests changes that could help solve the widely recognized problems with current methods of coping with disasters

Damages from natural disasters are reaching catastrophic proportions, making natural hazard mitigation an important national policy issue. The findings and recommendations presented in this volume should help to strengthen natural hazard mitigation policy and practice, thereby serving to reduce drains on the federal treasury that pay for preventable recovery and relief costs, and to spare residents in areas hit by natural disasters undue suffering and expense. It is an informative and eye-opening study for planners, policymakers, students of planning and geography, and professionals working for government agencies that deal with natural hazards.

About the author

David Godschalk, Philip Berke, David Brower, and Edward J. Kaiser are faculty members in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. David Godschalk is a faculty member in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Timothy Beatley is associate professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia. Philip Berke is a faculty member in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. David Brower is a faculty member in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Edward J. Kaiser is a faculty member in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.