Mitigation Best Practices

ALBANY, NY – History is of particular importance to the estimated 350 residents of Gilbertsville. It is one of only a few villages nationwide to be placed, in its entirety, on the National Register of Historical Places. With additional help from federal and state disaster agencies, the tiny Otsego County Village of Gilbertsville is rebuilding from the June 2006 floods without having to sacrifice one of its most historically significant features.

NEW YORK – The scope of Sandy’s damage reinforced a basic principle of good government: coordination among all affected applicants and agencies to achieve a common goal. Nowhere was this more vividly illustrated than with the Region II New York Sandy Recovery Office’s (NYSRO) Environmental and Historic Preservation’s (EHP’s) collaborative efforts during Sandy’s recovery. EHP worked closely with internal staff, federal partners and New York State to streamline the project review process.

REDLANDS, CA - Residents of the urban-wildland interface, an area encompassing more than a third of the City of Redlands, have a place to go where they can learn how to modify vegetation at their homes and use fire-resistant materials to make their homes fire safe. Since 1992, Redlands has participated in disaster recovery efforts related to seven different Federally declared disasters, including five major floods, an earthquake, and a wildland fire.

REDLANDS, CA - The Redlands Unified School District has a year-round campus program resulting in virtually continuous high occupancy and use of all school facilities. The district has 21 buildings. Of these, 19 are schools and offices, and two are for support services.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL - Khalid Resheidat is a civil engineer for the City of New Smyrna Beach. His responsibilities include oversight of the city’s floodplain management issues, including a list of repetitive loss properties, or properties that had been repeatedly damaged from flooding. As Resheidat learned, due to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, New Smyrna Beach had a history of high water events.

OCEAN COUNTY, NJ – Fred Harvey and his wife, Cecilia, were on vacation when Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy struck New Jersey causing severe damage along the coast. While viewing a news story of the storm, they realized they were viewing the damage to their neighborhood in Holgate, New Jersey. Although not seeing their own home, they realized that most, if not all, of the residences in their neighborhood were damaged to some extent.

HIRAM, ME - One of Maine’s most pristine rivers, the Saco River, runs through the bucolic region of southwestern Maine. Bisected by the Saco River is the small Maine village of Hiram. Here, alongside the Saco runs River Road and its long history of flooding.

CATAHOULA PARISH, LA – Catahoula Parish has had a tumultuous relationship with the Ouachita and Black Rivers as these rivers are prone to high-velocity flooding. Soil erosion occurs naturally, but certain factors such as water and wind can accelerate, and worsen, its effects. In the parish, floodwaters from the rivers damaged nearby roadways, prompting parish officials to seek mitigation measures to break the cycle of destruction and repair.

GARLAND, NC - The Williams' home had experienced two episodes of flooding due to hurricanes. In 1984 flood waters entered the house soaking duct work, all flooring and carpets as well as damaging utilities and appliances. The family was displaced from their home for two months. When Hurricane Fran soaked eastern North Carolina in 1996, the Williams' house again had flood damage and the family was again displaced for about two months.

ALBANY, NY – Repairs to Mallet Hill Road in the Town of Stratford, Fulton County, damaged during the June 2006 flooding were designed to a higher standard. Using the higher standard may have made them less vulnerable to future flooding.

Thanks to a New York State and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) policy, extra funding is provided to mitigate against future damages to public infrastructure.