East Fishkill Hazard Mitigation Plan

East Fishkill Hazard Mitigation Plan - Background

East Fishkill residents are well aware of their vulnerability to natural hazards such as flooding, severe storms and severe winter storms. Hazard mitigation planning is a step toward addressing these hazards by reducing their impacts to our residents, business and public property. Residents and businesses benefit from comprehensive hazard mitigation planning by using a sustained, pro-active approach to reduce or eliminate long term risk to people and property from hazards. By utilizing mitigation planning, communities assess risks and identify actions to reduce their vulnerability and increase sustainability.

A Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) is a living document that communities use to reduce their vulnerability to hazards. HMPs form the foundation for a community's long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction and repeated damage. They create a framework for risk-based decision making to reduce damages to lives, property and the economy from future disasters.

Further, communities must have an approved HMP to apply for and receive Federal Mitigation Grant Funding. Grant funding is available for projects to mitigate risk to both public and private property. For example, projects such as structural elevation, stormwater management improvements and local flood mitigation projects are eligible for funding. Ultimately, these action reduce vulnerability, and communities are able to recover more quickly from disasters.

The Town of East Fishkill was recently awarded a grant from FEMA to prepare an HMP for the Town. Through a FEMA Mitigation Planning Grant, the Town has established a Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee to support the development of the Town's HMP.

Public Presentation

The public attended a presentation at the April 12, 2012 Town Board Workshop at the East Fishkill Town Hall. The planning consultant hired by the Town for this project explained the purpose, process and benefits of mitigation planning, and explained how the public can continue to participate in this effort. Vulnerable property owners learned about funding that may be available to help mitigate their property.

Here are the links to the Presentation Slides from the workshop and a Homeowner "Notice of Voluntary Interest" Form that was handed out.

What is Hazard Mitigation?

Hazard Mitigation is any action taken to reduce the loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters (natural, technological and/or man-made). (http://www.fema.gov/plan/mitplanning/)

It is often considered the first of the four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

Mitigation measures fall into the following six general catagories, and address both public and private property:

Prevention: Measures such as planning and zoning, open space preservation, development regulations, building codes, stormwater management, fire fuel reduction, soil erosion and sediment control.

Property Protection: Measures such as acquisition relocation, storm shutters, rebuilding, barriers, flood-proofing, insurance and structural retrofits for high winds and earthquake hazards.

Public Education and Awareness: Measures such as outreach projects, real estate disclosure, hazard information centers, technical assistance and school age and adult education programs.

Natural Resource Protection: Measures such as erosion and sediment control, stream corridor protection, vegetative management and wetlands preservation.

Emergency Services: Measures such as hazard threat recognition, hazard warning systems, emergency response, protection of critical facilities and health and safety maintenance.

Structural Projects: Measures such as dam, levees, seawalls, bulkheads revetments, high flow diversions, spillways, buttresses, debris basins, retaining walls, channel modifications, storm sewers, retrofitted buildings and elevation roadways (seismic protection).

East Fishkill Hazard Mitigation Plan (adopted 2013)

Project Contacts

Ms. Gina Grippo

Town of East Fishkill Supervisor's Office

330 Route 376, Hopewell Junction, NY 12533

Phone: (845) 221-4303

e-Mail: grippog@eastfishkillny.org

Mr. Rick Witt

Town of East Fishkill Engineering Department

330 Route 376, Hopewell Junction, NY 12533

Phone: (845) 221-2427, ext. 239

e-Mail: wittr@eastfishkillny.org