Grays Harbor FEMA Resiliency Meeting Summary 10/23/14
Why Resiliency Meetings?
Coastal communities in Washington State and around the country are already experiencing the impacts of natural
stressors that will be exacerbated under a changing climate. By taking steps to become more resilient, communities can
proactively mitigate the risk and exploit the opportunities associated with hazard events. Many of Washington’s coastal
communities have a heightened awareness of these risks and have expressed interest in taking action to improve their
resilience.
Flood risk is a significant hazard along Washington’s coast. To help strengthen local capacity to reduce or mitigate flood
risk, FEMA initiated a program to provide communities with information and tools to enhance their mitigation plans and
support actions to better protect their citizens. Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (Risk MAP) focuses on products
and services beyond the traditional Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) and delivers multi-hazard vulnerability data and
assessments using a Hazus model.1 HAZUS uses GIS technology to estimate physical, economic and social impact of a M9
Cascadia Subduction earthquake and tsunami, as well as the potential damages from soil liquefaction and flooding.
In collaboration with State, Tribal, and local entities, Risk information is disseminated through Community Resilience
Meetings. Southwest Washington serves as the pilot areas for the first Risk MAP process. The goal of these Resiliency
meetings is to inform communities of their risks related to certain natural hazards and to enable communities to act to
reduce their risk. If achieved, this will prepare communities for future coastal hazards, reduce the need for time and
resources post-extreme event, and protect the vitality of coastal communities.
Washington Sea Grant and the Department of Ecology are supporting FEMAs efforts. As part of a two-year CRest grant
(Coastal Hazard Resilience Network2), the agencies are partnering to improve regional coordination, integration, and
understanding of coastal hazards and climate change impacts. FEMAs Risk MAP provides an opportunity to implement
this concept at the local level and assist community needs in improving resilience.
Meeting Structure
On October 23, FEMA held their first Resiliency meeting in Washington State with Grays Harbor County. The meeting
consisted of two presentations followed by a break out session. The first was targeted towards elected officials and
included a brief presentation of the Risk Report followed by a discussion. In the afternoon, a second presentation was
given for local-government representatives including planners, emergency managers and public works officials. This
provided the audience with more specific information pertaining to risks, data and recommendations. Following the
presentations, community representatives were then given the opportunity to discuss their jurisdiction’s hazards and
challenges in smaller groups organized by community. These break out groups were a valuable element of the meeting
because they prompted discussions regarding priority areas and opportunities and barriers for each community. They
also helped clarify mapping and data inconsistencies and provided further explanation of FEMA’s efforts and potential
assistance.
Results
The Gray’s Harbor Resiliency meeting had a strong turnout, consisting of planners, emergency managers, first
responders and other representatives from 8 jurisdictions within Grays Harbor County:
 Hoquiam
 McCleary
1
Grays Harbor HAZUS modeling and assessment was conducted by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DRN). For
more information regarding FEMAs HAZUS model see: https://www.fema.gov/hazus
2
For more information on the Coastal Hazards Resilience Network see: http://www.wacoastalnetwork.com/
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Oakville
Aberdeen
Montesano
Elma
Cosmopolis
Westport
In each group, maps of areas within communities were provided to give the attendees the ability to identify critical areas
and concerns. The facilitators in all groups were provided worksheets to help guide and record the discussions.
Following the meeting, Ecology and Sea Grant summarized the worksheets from all community groups and organized
specific concerns under seven identified themes among Grays Harbor communities:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Insufficient critical infrastructure
Insufficient coordination and communication within communities
Isolation and challenges in evacuation or relocation to critical facilities
Hazard Mitigation Plan Update/Development
Lack of available resources for emergency response
Insufficient funding and resources
Next Steps
FEMA is planning to complete Risk MAP processes for other communities around the state. While the Grays Harbor pilot
serves as a good model for future efforts, this undertaking will require significant investment of time and resources from
agencies. However, based on the results and potential benefits to communities in addressing coastal hazards, project
partners are working closely to provide the capacity for additional meetings in the upcoming months. Ultimately, the
information gained from these workshops could result in establishing community-scale networks to improve
communication and coordination, while also identifying potential solutions and additional data and research to address
high priority needs.
The CHRN will continue to work with both Pacific and Grays Harbor County to ensure action and implementation
follows these discussions. The information received from the community discussions will provide the CHRN with a
framework to move forward. The network will follow up with some of the communities to attain greater detail of
identified priorities or issues before selecting the appropriate members to be involved. Once sufficient information is
obtained by the CHRN, it will compile its expertise and resources to provide assistance to those communities or
counties. Providing expertise, guidance, and resources is where the CHRN has the greatest ability to assist Washington
communities vulnerable to coastal hazards.