Officials hope plan will prevent natural disasters

Chapel Hill officials hope their proposed Hazard Mitigation Plan will help the town prevent natural hazards from developing into natural disasters.

Earlier this month, Chapel Hill released the 154-page plan identifying the various hazards around the town, assessing the areas most vulnerable to disaster, evaluating the town's ability to manage these areas, and researching local policies and community, state and federal mandates.

The town then used all the information to create a mitigation strategy - a plan of action to respond to these issues.

Bruce Heflin, assistant town manager and former director of the Department of Public Works, said the creation of the plan fulfills both the town's legal requirement to have the plan as well as its desire to identify steps that can be taken to mitigate losses before they occur.

"The need for the plan grew out of the response from the storms," he said, in reference to dealing with the various storms, hurricanes and other natural disasters that have affected the town.

The newly released plan is a revision of the town's 2002 Hazard Mitigation Plan.

In June 2001, the N.C. General Assembly passed Senate Bill 300, a law that requires local governments to have an approved hazard mitigation plan by Aug. 1, 2002, in order to be eligible for state funding.

The Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 established more criteria that municipalities must include in their hazard mitigation plans. The plans had to have been approved by FEMA by Nov. 1 for towns to receive federal hazard mitigation funds.

"It makes common sense," said George Small, engineering director for Chapel Hill.

"If you are going to receive funding for a natural disaster, the federal government wants to make sure you have a plan in place."

The town's Stormwater Management Division began revising the report in the summer of 2003.

The team, composed of Stormwater Management Engineer Fred Royal, Stormwater Engineering Technician Patricia D'Arconte and Environmental Education Coordinator Wendy Smith, revised the previous plan according to FEMA requirements.

The team used "Keeping Natural Hazards from Becoming Disasters: A Mitigation Planning Guidebook for Local Governments," a book published by the N.C. Department of Emergency Management, to develop the plan.

"If you follow it pretty well, you are going to meet FEMA's requirements," D'Arconte said.

D'Arconte and the rest of the team have assessed the entire town and determined its most vulnerable areas.

"The most vulnerable areas in town are repetitive loss structures, ones that have been flooded multiple times," she said.

The town is most vulnerable to flooding, especially in areas like the Eastgate Mall, Camelot Village and Estes Drive, D'Arconte said.

Because of this, the town will likely expand the areas where construction is not permitted because of probable flooding in those places, D'Arconte said.

D'Arconte believes the plan will help the town compete for state and federal funding.

"We have a good program set up. ... It's a proven track record that's in our favor," she said.

On Nov. 22, the town will hold a public hearing to allow the public to comment on any issues brought up in the plan.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.