Hurricane Mitigation Efforts at the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency

Abstract

The U.S. government began funding to address the hurricane peril only in the late 1970s by providing limited resources to develop evacuation studies. These studies serve as planning and implementation tools for the emergency management community and play a major role in reducing injuries and loss of life. During this same period, however, property damages and the social and economic costs of hurricanes have escalated. Not until recently has the Federal government begun to commit resources to reduce these losses. The National Mitigation Strategy published by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 1995 calls for a reduction of all losses caused by natural hazards within 15 years. To support this goal, FEMA is developing a risk assessment/loss estimation methodology that will provide a consistent means of estimating disaster losses and will identify needs and opportunities for specific measures to reduce those losses. We anticipate that the methodology will contribute to a greater public awareness and understanding of hurricane storm losses, and that what we learn will challenge us to think more creatively about how to meet the goals of the National Mitigation Strategy.