Mitigation and Risk Reduction

1. The Flood Investigation and Damage Assessment Plan

Effective flood management plan depends on a detailed documentation, community involvement, and prior mitigation planning (Jung & Lee, 2013). For the post-flood investigating officer, it is necessary to come up with a short and consequential investigation plan that will assist in assessing the flood damage in this city. A plan to be used in assessing the situation is as follows:

1 a. Considering the number of residential properties affected: The investigation will consider the number of residential property flooded and how long the flooding took place. The property owners themselves will be visited for receiving their account on the property lose. For public property damage, the investigating team will visit the government offices and departments to get the accurate data on the affected public facilities (Brilly & Polic, 2005).

1 b. Analyzing eminent accident, injury, or any health implications: The investigation will be conducted in the area so as to determine the number of accidents and/or injuries that might have occurred inside or outside the buildings, other structures in the city, and in the public space. The investigation will also consider the consequence of foul water flooding on the public health (FEMA, Innovative floodplain management, Kinston, North Carolina). The results of this investigation have to ensure that the city council will construct more flood-resistant buildings and design effective programs for curbing water borne pollution, in case of another flooding disaster.

1 c. Accessing the effects on critical infrastructure: Motorways, roads, railways and railway stations, airports, and some other facilities are crucial for the city’s economy. The investigation will ensure that any serious effect of the flooding reported from this infrastructure is dealt with adequately. The investigating team will visit and analyze these facilities while ensuring that the programs that are laid down to curb flooding in these areas are effective and up-to-date (FEMA, Innovative floodplain management, Kinston, North Carolina).

1 d. Environmental considerations: Finally, the investigation will consider the effects of the flooding on the city’s environment. A vital consideration here is the flooding effect on the ecosystem and how the environmentally protected habitats and species could have been affected. The investigation team will visit various habitats in and around the city, visiting game parks and animal reserves so as to analyze the suitability of the flood mitigation programs in case of any flooding.

During this investigation, a number of individuals will be very useful in ensuring that correct and up-to-date information is attained. These individuals include the major property owners, key flood authorities (water companies, network rail, highway agencies and so on), and major landowners, forestry commission, and the ministry of defense (Brilly & Polic, 2005).

2. Possible Reasons for the Apparent Failure to Implement the Flood Mitigation Program

2 a. Setting up developments in the flood-prone areas: Areas that are prone to flooding should be avoided in terms of heavy economic developments. An effective flood mitigation program would require the adoption of a progressive approach to the flood risk management. It is crucial in assessing the suitability of an area to support setting up the residents in areas that are not prone to flooding. As in the case of the New Jersey’s Moonachie city, the damage to over 70% of the property is attributed to developments ignorance in a flood-prone area without proper mitigation programs.

2 b. Ignorance and failure to repair the levee system: The levee system in this area had been the main flood protection mechanism before its failure during the flood disaster five years ago. It occurs that the bodies that were concerned with the flood protection and mitigation programs had ignorantly assumed the status of the levee system and left it unrepaired. This ignorance and failure had significantly contributed to the current flooding disaster (FEMA, Promoting mitigation in Louisiana). Repair of the levee system, as part of the flood mitigation program, would have assisted in reducing the percentage lose during the disaster. Therefore, it is necessary that the city council finds a way to repair these levee systems and considers some modern methods of flood management.

2 c. Inappropriate legislation: Given the fact that the city had previously experienced a flood disaster, it would have been necessary for the municipal council to set up strict legislation and guidelines considering the plan of settlement and property development in the identified flood-prone areas. The legislation could have also come up with a number of effective flood mitigation programs. Apparently, this issue had not been the case; consequently, the people repeatedly suffered the effect of flooding without any prior preparations or notice of such a catastrophe. Therefore, legislation could have been critical in ensuring proper implementation of the effective flood mitigation programs (FEMA, Promoting mitigation in Louisiana).  

2 d. Improper funding of the mitigation programs implementation: At times, the source of funding for such a program becomes a challenge, especially if the city council does not get any financial support from the federal/state government. In such a case, it is only prudent that the city council finds a way of gaining the necessary funds in running an effective post-disaster flood mitigation projects. This problem can be solved by including the local community in volunteer initiatives aiming at setting up the structures for preventing another occurrence of flooding. The local businesses and community groups can also be encouraged to support the funding of these projects (FEMA, Promoting mitigation in Louisiana). However, in this case study, it is worth noting that the city council implemented neither of these options; hence, the disaster occurred.

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