Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
www.nhma.info
FEMA Mitigation
Brownbag Lunch
July 21, 2011
Edward A. Thomas, Esq.
edwathomas@aol.com
617-515-3849
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Good Day!
I appear today representing:
The Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
This is not and cannot be legal advice.
This is a statement of general principles of ethics, law
and policy.
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To Set the Stage For Our Discussion:
 Lets discuss some basics of law
 In the law-especially criminal law- attorneys
often seek to identify someone else to take
the blame
 For increased flood damages that “someone
else” is often…
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Mother Nature
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Does Nature Cause Disasters?
Dr. Gilbert White, the late, great, founder of
the internationally recognized Natural Hazards
Center, stated the facts:
“Floods are acts of nature; but flood losses
are largely acts of man”
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I Hope All of You Will Agree:
Among the most clear lessons of the horrific floods
of this decade:
 There is no possibility of a sustainable
economy without safe locations for business
and industry to occupy
 We need safe housing for employees to work
at businesses and industry – to have an
economy at all
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Must Sustainability Or “Smart-Growth”
Have A Foundation in Hazard Mitigation?
 The Spring 2007 Edition of The Urban Lawyer contains an
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article which summarizes the views of 16 of the leading
gurus of the “Smart Growth” Movement
A total of 135 separate principles
None refer to hazards specifically
A very few refer to protecting natural resources
Gabor Zovanyi is the author; Article is “The Role of Smart
Growth Legislation in Advancing the Tenets of
Smart Growth”
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But There Is Hope!
 New and Exciting APA and ABA Awareness and
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Initiatives
Improved FEMA Flood Mapping Program-Risk MAP
The Formation of the National Hazard Mitigation
Collaborative Alliance
Formation of the Natural Hazard Mitigation
Association
USACE Silver Jackets Program
Media and Other National Leaders Are Finally Catching
on to the Real Reasons Flooding and Other Natural
Disasters Are Increasing in Consequence
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CNN Discussion of the Atlanta Flooding:
“Before the storm stalled over Atlanta, the metro area
had been in a prolonged drought.
Jeras, the CNN meteorologist, said “the urbanization of
Atlanta and its suburban sprawl also contributed to the
floods.”
“Instead of hitting soil, much of the rainwater ran
straight into concrete, where it runs very fast and can
overwhelm rivers and drainage systems.”
"There used to be a lot more earth and soil to help
absorb this stuff," she said. "But the rain
really fell on the concrete jungle.”
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The American Planning Association Is Now
Turning Increased Attention To Hazards!
 Paul Farmer, Executive Director of APA
June 2009:
“Where one builds is just as important as what one builds
and how one builds....and it's time now for planners to boldly
take the lead in community and professional debates on their
interrelationships. They should point out that good buildings
simply should not be built in bad locations — something that
those enamored of environmental rating systems for
individual structures would do well to remember.”
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Paul Farmer Also Writes:
 “Sometimes the response is easy: Just say no to
new buildings on barrier islands or in wildfireprone canyons. Sometimes it's not so simple:
Planners confront very real moral, ethical, and
public policy dilemmas in places like New Orleans,
the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, or known
high-hazard zones of Florida.”
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New American Planning Association
Publication
 “APA's Hazards Planning Research Center (has
prepared) a FEMA-funded best practice materials
showing how hazard-mitigation and adaptation plans
can be integrated into comprehensive planning
efforts at all scales — from the neighborhood to the
region.”
 This Document Is Available from APA
 Excellent in My Opinion
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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American Bar Association
Summary of ABA Resolution 107 E:
“The following recommendations of the Financial Services Round
Table Blue Ribbon Commission on Megacatastrophes are highly
desirable loss mitigation suggestions:
> State of the art building codes
> Cost-effective retrofitting
> Land use policies that discourage construction posing high
risk to personal safety or property loss.
> Property tax credits to encourage retrofitting
These and related elements of loss mitigation are designed to
ultimately bring to market affordable insurance policies
with broadened coverages.”
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American Bar Association Resolution 114;
Adopted by the ABA House of Delegates;
February 2011
The American Bar Association has subscribed to the White Paper
on Hazard Mitigation prepared by the National Emergency
Management Association (NEMA) under contract to FEMA
In Resolution 114 ABA voted to:
a)Support hazard mitigation through disaster planning;
b) Recognize the role of state and local government;
c) Give due regard to property rights
d) Legal issues
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Trends in Flood Damages
 Flood losses and reported flood heights
are increasing
 Demographic trends indicate great
future challenges
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Demographic Trends: The Future
 As we move into the next generation things will be
much more challenging for Floodplain and Stormwater
Managers
 Dr. Arthur “Chris” Nelson, FAICP
 Leadership in a New Era
 “More than half of the built environment of the
United States we will see in 2025 did not exist in
2000”
Journal of the American Planning Association,
Vol. 72, No. 4, Autumn 2006.
© American Planning Association, Chicago, IL.
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As printed in www.architectmagazine.com
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USA Today - April 29, 2008:
 Chris Nelson tells APA Convention that:
In the next one hundred years the US
population will grow to:
Any guesses?
 Does 100 years have any special meaning to
us?
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Where will the Most Growth Take Place?
One Example: Colorado Population in
2050
Colorado's population is expected to nearly double by
2050.
Citation:
A 2050 VISION FOR COLORADO'S WATER SUPPLY FUTURE
Authors: Nicole Rowan, CDM, Susan Morea, CDM , Eric Hecox, Colorado
Water Conservation Board
Where Will These Folks Wish to Live?
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Trends in Flood Damages
• $6 billion annually
Average Annual Flood Damages
• Four-fold increase
from early 1900s
0
1910s
• Per capita damages
increased by more
than a factor of 2.5 in
the previous century
in real dollar terms
• And then there was
Katrina, Rita, Wilma
1920s
1930s
1940s
2
4
1990s
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$2.0
$2.9
$2.4
$3.4
$2.2
1970s
1980s
8
$2.2
1950s
1960s
6
$4.9
$3.3
$5.6
2000s
$10.0
Billions (adjusted to 1999 dollars)
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USACE Slide courtesy of Pete Rabbon
Residual Risk Can Be Increased
All Shareholders Can Also Contribute to Increased Risk!
Initial Risk
No Warning/Evacuation Plan
Upstream Development Increases Flows
Lack of Awareness of Flood Hazard-Lack of Flood,
Business Interruption, DIC Insurance
RISK
Critical Facilities Not Protected
Increased Development
Levees Not Properly
Designed/Maintained
Vastly Increased
Residual Risk
RISK Increase Factors
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Central Message:
Even if we perfectly implement
current floodplain regulations,
damages will continue or increase.
Remember, we have done a number of positive things,
both non-structural and structural, but…
We’ll discuss why that is…
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Why Are Floods Getting Worse?
Fundamental Misunderstandings:
Where is the Floodplain?
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Special Flood Hazard Area
If you prevent floodplain fill,
you keep existing development safe.25
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Large areas of the
floodplain are filled
and developed.
Fill
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Larger Special Flood Hazard Area After Filling
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Flood Heights May Increase
Dramatically
 Other factors may well cause a significant
increase in flood heights
 Legally permitted fill and encroachments
 Wildfires
 Debris blockage
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Deeper and Higher Water Results?
Serious Public Safety Issues
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Safe Development Is Affordable
 The American Institutes for Research has conducted
a detailed study on the cost of floodproofing and
elevation
 That study supports the idea that elevation and
floodproofing costs add very small sums and have a
significant societal payback
 The Multihazard Mitigation Council, a group which
includes private industry representatives, reports
that hazard mitigation has a proven 4-1
payback
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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The Choice of Development or No
Development is a False Choice!
The Choice We Have as a Society is Rather Between:
1. Well planned development that protects people
and property, our environment, and our
precious Water Resources while reducing the
potential for litigation; or
2. Some current practices that are known to harm
people, property, and natural floodplain
functions-… and may lead to litigation
and other challenges
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Why Are Governments Not Acting
To Prevent Harmful Development?
NOAA recently completed a study
which surveyed planners as to
impediments to safe development
 Two major reasons cited:
 Fear of the “taking” issue
 Economic pressure
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Reason #1 For Insufficient Standards:
Economics and Externality
 When one group pays maintenance or
replacement of something yet different
person or group uses that same something,
we often have problems
 Disaster assistance is a classic example of
externality
 Who Pays For Disaster Assistance?
 Who Benefits?
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Who Pays For Disaster Assistance?
 Costs of flooding are usually largely borne by:
a) The federal and sometimes the State taxpayer
through IRS Casualty Losses, SBA loans,
Disaster CDBG funds, and the whole panoply
of Federal and private disaster relief described
in the Ed Thomas et al. publication:
Planning and Building Livable, Safe &
Sustainable Communities: The
Patchwork Quilt Approach
b) By disaster victims themselves
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Cui Bono? (Who Benefits?)……….
 From Unwise or Improper Floodplain
Development a) Developers?
b) Communities?
c) State Government?
d) Mortgage companies?
e) The occupants of floodplains?
Possibly in the short-term, but
definitely NOT in the long-term 36
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Why Should Government Do
Something About This?
 Fundamental duty
 Protect the present
 Preserve a community’s future
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Why Else Should Government
Do Something About This?
 In a Word:
Liability
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Litigation for Claimed Harm Is Easier
Now Than In Times Past
 Forensic hydrologists
 Forensic hydraulic engineers
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New Trend In The Law
 Increasingly states are allowing lawsuits against
communities for alleged “goofs” in permitting
construction or in conducting inspections
 Excellent paper By Attorney Jon Kusler PhD for
The Association of State Floodplain Managers
(ASFPM) Foundation available online at
www.floods.org
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Three Ways to Support
Reconstruction Following Disaster
Damage
Self help: loans, savings, charity, neighbors
2. Insurance: disaster relief is a combination of
social insurance and self help
3. Litigation
1.
The preferred alternative is…
to have NO DAMAGE
due to land use and hazard mitigation
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Lincoln, Nebraska
Flooded Homes
Developer, engineer, and realtor settle with
homeowners
City at first held liable; then wins in Nebraska
Supreme Court– City “owed no duty to homeowners”
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Photo: Lincoln Star Journal
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From California….. January 2008:
 Lawsuit seeks $1 billion in Marin flood damage
The plaintiffs – 265 individuals and businesses –
are each seeking $4.25 million in damages
 Lawyers representing the victims could collect
more than $66 million in fees
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Marin, California
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City Of Half Moon Bay, California
November, 2007
 City Liable for nearly $37,000,000 under the
Federal and State Takings Clauses, as well as the
Common Law Doctrines of Nuisance and
Trespass, for constructing a storm water drainage
system which flooded someone
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Fernley, Nevada:
 “Class-action lawsuit updated in Fernley
flood case”
 “The lawsuit names the Truckee-Carson
Irrigation District, Lyon County, the city of
Fernley, and companies that built and sold
homes in the area flooded when a stormswollen irrigation canal ruptured” Nevada
Appeal, 1/26/08
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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1986 Sacramento River Flood
California Law Changes
1 levee rupture
Photographer: Geoff Fricker
+ 50,000 people evacuated
+ 9,000 families left homeless
+ 29 counties declared
+ $532 million in damages
+ almost 2 decades of litigation
= Paterno, a landmark court decision
in 2003
Damages - $464 Million
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Katrina Legal Situation
 Katrina Lawsuits
 500,000 Plaintiffs
 $278 Billion in damages requested
 Approximately 1,000 plaintiffs attorneys involved -
learning about levees, floods, and liability
 A copy of an article on this topic appeared in the
National Wetlands Newsletter and is available at:
www.floods.org/PDF/ET_Katrina_Insurance_082907.pdf
 For the first time in many years, lenders will lose
considerable money on mortgages in a disaster
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area
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Examples of Situations Where
Governments Have Been Held Liable
 Construction of a road blocks drainage
 Stormwater system increases flows
 Structure blocks watercourse
 Bridge without adequate opening
 Grading land increases runoff
 Flood control structure causes damage
 Filling wetland causes damage
 Issuing permits for development which
causes harm to a third party
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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In These Examples Of Community
Legal Liability For Permitting Or
Undertaking Activity
Is There A Theme?
YOU BET!!!
What is that Theme?
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The Theme
 They did not do No Adverse Impact Planning!!!
 They did not adopt the higher standards of the CRS
Program!!
 They did not identify the impacts of the development
activity
 They did not notify the soon-to-be afflicted members of
the Community
 They did not re-design or re-consider the project
 They did not require appropriate and necessary
mitigation measures
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Landowner Does Not Have All
Rights Under The Law
 No right to be a nuisance
 No right to violate the property rights of
others
 No right to trespass
 No right to be negligent
 No right to violate laws of reasonable surface
water use; or riparian laws
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 No right to violate the public trust
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Public Entities Do Not Have The
Right To Do Just Anything Either!
 No right to use public office to wage
vendettas
 No right to abuse the public
 No right to use regulation to steal
from a landowner
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Liability Can Sometimes Be Established
Under A Variety of Theories: Failure To
Follow Your Own Plan
 Keystone Elec. Mfg. Co. v. City of Des Moines,
586 N.W.2d 340, 343 (Iowa 1998)
“We conclude that the City's decisions concerning
how to fight the flood do not fall under the
discretionary function exception to liability under
Iowa Code section 670.4(3) of Iowa's Tort
Liability of Governmental Subdivisions
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Act....”
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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A Solution
 Go Beyond NFIP Minimum Standards
 No Adverse Impact-CRS Type:
 Development decision-making
 Planning
 Emergency Preparedness
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How About Immunity?
 Where revised off-ramp caused flooding…under the Colorado
Governmental Immunity Act, county was required to exercise
reasonable care to correct condition….
Larry H. Miller Corp.-Denver v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, Court of
Appeals No. 02CA0545 , COURT OF APPEALS OF COLORADO,
DIVISION FOUR , 77 P.3d 870 (2003)
And “…city's storm drainage system flooding plaintiff's adjacent
property constituted continuing trespass….”
Docheff v. City of Broomfield, 623 P.2d 69
(Colo. App. 1980)
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Reason #2 Why Safer Standards Are
Not Implemented:
Concerns About A “Taking”
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The Constitution of the United States
 Fifth Amendment to the Constitution: “… nor
shall private property be taken for public use
without just compensation.”
 Was this some theoretical thought, or passing
fancy?
 Which part of this directly mentions
regulation?
 Pennsylvania Coal Company vs. Mahon 260 US
293 (1922). But See, Keystone Coal
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480 US 470, 1987.
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Increase in Cases Involving Land Use
 There has been a huge increase in Taking Issue Cases,
and related controversies involving development
 Thousands of cases reviewed by Jon Kusler, me and
others
 Common thread? Courts have modified Common Law to
require an Increased Standard of Care as the state of the
art of Hazard Management has improved
 Government is vastly more likely to be sued for
undertaking activity, or permitting others to take action
which causes harm than it is for strong,
fair regulation
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Taking Lawsuit Results:
 Regulations clearly based on hazard prevention
and fairly applied to all: successfully held to be a
Taking – almost none!
 Many, many cases where communities and
landowners held liable for harming others
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Can Government Adopt Higher
Standards Than FEMA Minimums?
 FEMA Regulations Encourage Adoption of Higher
Standards-”… any floodplain management
regulations adopted by a State or a community
which are more restrictive than (the FEMA
Regulations) are encouraged and shall take
precedence.” 44CFR section 60.1(d). (emphasis
added)
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Extremely Important US Supreme
Court Case On Takings:
 Lingle v. Chevron, US Supreme Court No. 04-
163, Decided May 23, 2005
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In Lingle, The Supreme Court States
How To Determine If There Is A
Taking
 The Court Indicated that The Constitution Prohibits
Government Regulation Is Functionally Equivalent to a
Direct Appropriation of or Ouster from Private Property
 For Further Information See:
 Mitigating Misery: Land Use and Protection of Property Rights
Before the Next Big Flood, Edward A. Thomas Esq. and Sam Riley
Medlock JD. Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, Vol. 9, 2008.
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Hazard Based Regulation And The
Constitution
 Hazard based regulation generally sustained
against Constitutional challenges
 Goal of protecting the public accorded
ENORMOUS DEFERENCE by the Courts
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Why Go Beyond the Current
Minimum Standards?
Flood damages are continuing and/or
increasing unnecessarily!
Current approaches deal primarily with how
to build in a floodplain vs. how to minimize
future damages
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No Adverse Impact (NAI) Floodplain
Management
(Such as higher standards for Floodplain Management)
 What is “No Adverse Impact” Floodplain
Management”?
 ASFPM defines it as “…an approach that ensures
the action of any property owner, public or
private, does not adversely impact the property
and rights of others”
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No Adverse Impact Explained
NAI is a concept/policy/strategy that broadens one's
focus from the built environment to include how
changes to the built environment potentially impact
other properties.
NAI broadens property rights by protecting the
property rights of those that would be adversely
impacted by the actions of others.
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What Is The Result Of Implementing
Higher Standards?
 Protection of the property rights of all
 Legally speaking, prevention of harm is treated
quite differently than making the Community a
better place.
 Prevention of harm to the public is accorded
enormous deference by the Courts
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Higher Standards:
 Are consistent with the concept of sustainable
development
 Provide a pragmatic method for regulation
 Make sense on a local and regional basis
 May be rewarded by FEMA’s Community Rating
System, especially under the new CRS Manual
 Can reduce the potential for litigation against a
community
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No Adverse Impact Floodplain
Management
 New concept?
 No, it is a modern statement of an Ancient Legal Maxim
 “Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas”
Use your property so you do not harm others
 Detailed Legal Papers by Jon Kusler and
Ed Thomas available at: www.floods.org
 More information in ASFPM’s A Toolkit on Common Sense
Floodplain Management at: www.floods.org
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According To the Writings of One of
Our Greatest Moral Philosophers Mohandas K. Gandhi:
 “Sic Utere Tuo Ut Alienum Non Laedas”
That Is, In English: Use Your Property So You
Do Not Harm Others is:
 “A Grand Doctrine Of Life And The Basis Of
(Loving Relationships) Between Neighbors”
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Who Else Likes Sic Utere…?
 One of Many, Many Examples:
 Colorado Supreme Court
 The police power is an attribute of sovereignty and
exists without any reservation in the constitution,
being founded upon the duty of the state to protect its
citizens and provide for the safety and good order of
society. * * * It is founded largely on the maxim sic
utere tuo, ut alienum non laedas."
People v. Hupp, 53 Colo. 80, 83 (Colo. 1912)
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Nobody Owns the Right to Use Their
Property to Harm Others!
 Legally
 Morally
 Equitably
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Group Exercise!
 Do reasonable, fairly applied hazard
based regulations decrease the VALUE of
a property?
 Not the price, the VALUE?
Hint: The problem of The Purloined Purse.
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The Purloined Purse Defense
 Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of
the Unites States: “… nor shall private
property be taken for public use
without just compensation.”
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Result
 “The taking clause was never intended to
compensate property owners for property
rights they never had.” – Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court
Gove v. Zoning Board of Appeals
444 Mass.754 (2005) Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court,
decided July 26, 2005
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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How About Another Defense?
 I have a permit to snatch wallets and
purses?
 Right here - look!
 Legislature passed a law to help raise
funds for Local Government
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Purloined Purse In A Flood Context
 Defendants built flood control works
knowing that they could cause upland
flooding, and such works were a substantial
concurring cause of the injury.
Akins v. California, 48 Cal. App. 4th 832
(Cal. App. 3d Dist. 1996)
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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A Conservative, Property Rights View
 The Cato Institute indicates that compensation is
not due when:
“… regulation prohibits wrongful uses, no
compensation is required.”
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Might All Communities Wish To
Consider These Higher Standards?
Consider:
A) Uncertainties in flood elevations-50% confidence
B) Consequences if a factory, water treatment plant or
other critical facility is flooded
C) 50% chance that 1% flood will be exceeded
within 70 years according to Bulletin 17 B of the WRC
D) Changes in flood heights and velocities due to factors
such as upstream wildfires and mud slides/mudflow
E) Climate variability and climate change
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Other Contributing Factors:
 Think about the following scenarios Debris blockage (models assumes no blockage)
 Wildfires (exacerbated flows from burned vegetation-
hydrophobic soils etc.)
 Technical assumptions and other uncertainties
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Hazard Based Regulation And The
Constitution
 Hazard based regulation is generally
sustained against Constitutional
challenges
 Goal of protecting the public accorded
ENORMOUS DEFERENCE by the Courts
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Implementing NAI in the Real World
 Comprehensive watershed future conditions water
resources mapping looking at water supply-water
quality-stormwater management and flooding
 Interim Measure
 Require a demonstration that all development
does not change the hydrograph for the 1-10-50100-500 year BOTH flood and storm
 If time permitted we would have some engineers
discuss exactly how to do these steps: LID
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Tools For Preparation and Recovery
 Planning and Building Livable, Safe &
Sustainable Communities: The Patchwork Quilt
Approach
Located at:
http://stormsmart.org/uploads/patchwor
k-quilt/patchwork_quilt.pdf
 A Question for the Group:
What is the best form of hazard
mitigation?
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Summary:
 Higher Regulatory Standards Are:
A) Legal
B) Equitable
C) Practical
D) Defensible in Court
E) Supported by good economic analysis
F) The very basis of sustainability
G) Rewarded under the Community
Rating System (CRS)
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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So, Beyond NAI, What Can We Do?
 Two Models I Would Like To Discuss:
A) Reduction in Incidence of Airplane
Disasters
B) Reduction in Incidence of Urban
Fires
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
www.nhma.info
A) Reduction in Incidence of Airplane
Disasters
Enormous Success in the
20th Century
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…learning from experience
Learning from experience…
…continued
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
www.nhma.info
B) Reduction in Urban Fires
FEMA Publication
America at Risk
America Burning Recommissioned
FA-223/June 2002
FEMA Report in 2002
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
www.nhma.info
Fire Loss in Urban United States
“One hundred years ago, American cities faced a
devastating challenge from the threat of urban
fires. Whole cities had become the victims of
these events. Entire neighborhoods lived with the
very real threat that an ignited fire would take
everything, including their lives.”
From: America at Risk
America Burning Recommissioned
FA-223/June 2002
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
www.nhma.info
Fire Loss in Urban United States
“Today, the threat of fires is still with us. But we
have done a lot to address the risk, minimize the
incidence and severity of losses, and prevent fires
from spreading. Our states and localities have an
improving system of codes and standards; most of
us are aware of the risks; We have accomplished a
lot, but we have much more to do.”
From: America at Risk
America Burning Recommissioned
FA-223/June 2002
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
www.nhma.info
Fire Loss Reduction Shows Us A
Way Forward
“…the success of America’s fire services over
the past 100 years is instructive for the strength
and sustainability of America’s communities for
the next 100 years as well.”
From: America at Risk
America Burning Recommissioned
FA-223/June 2002
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
www.nhma.info
Build On Our Success
“Today, we must not only continue and reinvigorate
our successes, but also expand them to include the
natural and man-made threats that each of our
counties, cities, towns and villages face every day –
floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, hazardous material
spills, highway accidents, acts of terrorism, and so
much more.”
From: America at Risk
America Burning Recommissioned
FA-223/June 2002
Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
www.nhma.info
Take Away Messages For Today
Prevention
 We throw money at problems after they
occur
 We can pay a little now; or society pays lots
later
 The legal system is ready to help society pay
later
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Some Messages to Floodplain &
Emergency Managers From My
Negotiations Training
 Floodplain & Emergency Mangers
have to stop being the “Abominable
No People”!!
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Find A “Yes”
 We are for development
 We are for safe places for our citizens
to live
 We must consider others when we
develop
 Channel any emotion into action
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Steps to Uncover the “Yes”
 Never start with “NO!”
 We are against NO
 Start with what we are for
 We want your development!
 We need the tax revenue
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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If Needed: Develop
A Well Thought Out-Clear NO!
 Know your stuff
 Develop a Plan B
 Build a coalition-partnerships
 Who shares your interests?
 Take away their ability to launch a surprise attack
 Consider the worst case
 Consider the worst case if you have to live with a
Yes, when you should have said No
 The Mirror Test
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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If It Is A Good Project...
 Yes.
Yes.
Yes!
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Take Away Message
 Community leaders have responsibility for public
safety and need to be aware:
 Many areas can flood
 Uninsured victims will likely sue- and will try
to find someone to blame
 Fair harm prevention regulations help
everyone
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Message For All Involved In Community
Development
 The fundamental rules of developing livable
communities, as articulated, by Law, envision
housing and development which Is:
 Decent
 Safe
 Sanitary
 Affordable
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
www.nhma.info
Flooded Development Fails That
Vision!
 Housing and development which flood are:
 Indecent
 Unsafe
 Unsanitary
 Unaffordable- by the flood victims, by their
Community, by the State, and by our
Nation.
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Summary
 Fundamentally our society must choose either:
Better standards to protect resources and
people
or
Standards which inevitably will result in
destruction and litigation
The higher regulations of the Community Rating
System are headed in the right direction
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Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
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Questions and Answers