Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments Region All-Hazard Mitigation Plan
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4.
NECCOG’s Towns, Their Capabilities, and Vulnerabilities
44 CFR 201.6 (c) Plan Content. The plan shall include the following:
(2) A risk assessment that provides the factual basis for activities proposed in the strategy to reduce losses from identified hazards. Local
risk assessments must provide sufficient information to enable the jurisdiction to identify and prioritize appropriate mitigation actions to reduce
losses from identified hazards. The risk assessment shall include:
(ii) A description of the jurisdiction's vulnerability to the hazards described in paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section. This description shall
include an overall summary of each hazard and its impact on the community. All plans approved after October 1, 2008 must also address NFIP
insured structures that have been repetitively damaged by floods. The plan should describe vulnerability in terms of:
(A) The types and numbers of existing and future buildings, infrastructure, and critical facilities located in the identified hazard
areas;
(B) An estimate of the potential dollar losses to vulnerable structures identified in paragraph (c)(2)(ii)(A) of this section and a
description of the methodology used to prepare the estimate;
(C) Providing a general description of land uses and development trends within the community so that mitigation options can be
considered in future land use decisions.
(iii) For multi-jurisdictional plans, the risk assessment section must assess each jurisdiction's risks where they vary from the risks facing the
entire planning area.
It should be understood that the region’s municipalities are not uniformly vulnerable to all natural hazards, geography, population, development
patterns, and town-specific capabilities help determine each hazard’s impact on a specific community. The purpose of this chapter is to identify
town-level deviations from regional hazard vulnerabilities by assessing land use trends and characteristics of the natural environment,
identifying existing critical facilities, recognizing capabilities and regulatory authorities related to natural hazards, and assessing environmental
context.
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Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments Region All-Hazard Mitigation Plan
4.0.1 Identifying and Assessing Capabilities and Vulnerabilities
Capability Assessment
The Capability Assessment is a description of a town’s government and emergency functions, and regulatory authorities, as they relate to hazard
mitigation. The Capability Assessment also addresses NFIP compliance, addressed regionally in Chapter 3.1.4, on a municipal scale.
When considering municipal capabilities, it should be understood that all State Routes, Interstate Highways, and US Routes 6 and 44 are
maintained by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Additionally, dam inspection is performed by dam owners in compliance with
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection guidelines. Owners of “High Hazard” (Class C) dams and “Significant Hazard”
(Class B) dams must file an Emergency Action Plan or Emergency Operations Plan with DEEP and appropriate municipalities.
All of NECCOG’s member towns employ a Public Works Department1, charged with monitoring and maintaining town roads and properties, with
at least one employee. In regards to Emergency Response, all towns in Connecticut are mandated to keep an updated Local Emergency
Operations Plan (EOP) that outlines municipal responsibilities, sheltering operations, health services, and recovery, in the case of a town-wide
emergency. A town’s Emergency Management Director works closely with its chief official and/or town council to monitor preparedness and
respond to disasters and emergencies.
Critical Facilities
Critical facilities, addressed in Chapter 2.3, were identified using Hazus-MH Default Data. A list of facilities was developed for the each town,
then reassessed to correct deficiencies in data and expanded to include facilities that only house ambulances. The Hazus-MH critical facilities
inventory included two categories:
1
The name of which may vary by town
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Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments Region All-Hazard Mitigation Plan
Essential Facilities- Community buildings or buildings that serve a critical purpose in emergency mitigation, response, and recovery. They
include, hospitals, medical clinics, schools, fire stations, police stations, emergency operations facilities (Figure 4.0a).
High Potential Loss Facilities- Infrastructures, buildings, and other structures that significantly heighten hazard vulnerability, if
compromised. They include, dams, levees, military installations, nuclear power plants, and hazardous materials sites (Figure 4.0b).
The following Essential Facilities were added after review of Hazus-MH Default Data: Chaplin Police Station, Ashford Volunteer Fire Department,
Inc. #2, South Killingly Fire Station, Williamsville Fire Company, Moosup Fire Department, Central Village Fire Department, East Thompson
Volunteer Fire Department, Moosup-Plainfield Ambulance, K-B Ambulance Corps, and Hampton-Chaplin Ambulance Corps. Additionally, the
location of East Brooklyn Fire Department was changed and Thompson Police Department, Sterling Police Department, and Scotland Police
Department were eliminated.
Dam data from DEEP was used in place of Hazus-MH data because it is broader and more accurate.
Land and Land Use
When identifying vulnerability and planning future mitigation actions, it is important to consider the environmental context of natural hazards.
Environmental context can be broken down into two main categories, each critical to determining present and future vulnerability:
Natural Environment- Each town’s physical geography will be described using GIS-derived data, past documents, and local knowledge.
Human Development- Each town’s current and future land use patterns will be described using GIS-derived land cover data from the
Univeristy of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education Research (CLEAR)2 and business and population data, and each town’s
existing Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD).
2
Data from CLEAR gives a general description of historic land cover for each town. Data is created through remote sensing techniques and is not intended to be completely accurate. CLEAR maps and
data presented in this document should not be used for analysis or decision making.
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Figure 4.0a: Modified Essential Facility locations by type
Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments Region All-Hazard Mitigation Plan
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Figure 4.0b: Modified High Potential Loss Facility locations by type
Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments Region All-Hazard Mitigation Plan
Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments Region All-Hazard Mitigation Plan
Natural Hazard Vulnerabilities
Each town’s vulnerability to flooding, earthquakes, and tropical cyclones was quantified using Hazus-MH software. Abbreviated loss estimates
from flooding, earthquake, and tropical cyclone models can be found in Chapters 4.1-4.16, and broader loss summaries can be found in
Appendix 4X. Loss estimates are expressed in terms of building damage, agricultural losses, damage to critical facilities, shelter requirements,
and debris generation.
Where Hazus-MH modeling is not applicable, vulnerability was expressed qualitatively, in terms of potential safety and health risks and potential
building-related, economic, and agricultural losses. Information expressed in these hazards’ vulnerability assessments comes from local
knowledge and consideration of environmental characteristics, land use, future land uses, capabilities, social characteristics, and facilities data.
Vulnerability may also be viewed as total exposure value of structures and crops, and total population, for each town.
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