Assignment

You have just completed your hazard analysis for your community. The steps in the analysis that you have completed are as follows:

• Examine past history of emergencies
• Identify all hazards in the community
• Identify risks
• Determine vulnerabilities

Your analysis found that your community is very vulnerable to a severe winter storm although one has not occurred in over 20 years. You further found that your community may suffer from a high loss of life and property damage should it ever be subjected to a severe winter storm. However, you found that your community is also at a higher risk from tornadoes although less vulnerable.

Please answer the following questions for this Case Assignment:

• Which possible disaster would you place a higher emphasis for mitigating and preparing for in your Emergency Management Plan -- a severe winter storm or a tornado? Please justify your response and note the difference between risk and vulnerability in your response. You are encouraged to include appropriate references.

• Discuss how the key features of the NIMS will help local agencies confront the pending severe winter storm.

• Briefly discuss how your decision may affect policy decisions for emergency and disaster management in this community. (It is ALWAYS important that you consider how decisions impact policy and the policy decision-making process. I realize that this a bit beyond this course; however, I want everyone in the course to begin to learn to think of the policy implications for every decision which you may be responsible for making in your career.)

• Briefly discuss that trade-offs that you may have to consider in order that your community may be better prepared for a severe winter storm at the expense of being better prepared for a tornado.