Hazard Mitigation: For the past year and a half,
seven cities, two special service districts and the County have been collaborating on a
combined Siskiyou County Hazard Mitigation Plan. Public input was gathered in several
public meetings and a survey. The plan is a strategy to reduce or eliminate long term risk
to life and property from a hazard event. Once the plan is approved by the federal and
state emergency management agencies, actions identified in the plan will be eligible for
grant funding. These are actions to reduce risk to life and property before disasters
occur.
The ten local government partners first went about identifying and
profiling the hazards of most importance in the county. Major hazards included: dam
failure; drought; earthquake; flood; landslides/earth movements; volcano; severe weather;
and wildfire. Also identified were: air quality/smoke; avalanches; energy shortages; fish
disease; hazardous materials and noxious weeds. Each jurisdiction also identified public
property at particular risk. The hazards were then ranked for probability of occurrence
for each jurisdiction. (For instance, Fort Jones does not have a high risk of avalanche.)
For instance, the section on flooding has identified four
medical/health facilities, 16 government structures, three fire house/protective
structures, seven schools and ten other significant buildings in the 100 year flood plain
in unincorporated areas of the county. In the county as a whole, about 1,908 structures
are within the 100 year floodplain. About 80 percent of these are in incorporated areas.
Also, 80 percent are residential. There are about $282 million worth of non-governmental
building and contents exposure. About 3,602 people would be exposed to flood impacts,
(2,725 in the unincorporated areas.) It is estimated that up to 3,577 people could be
displaced in a 100 year flood with 1,868 of those people needing short term shelter.
In addition, portions of Interstate 5, Highways. 139, 161, 263, 89, 96, 97 and 3 pass through the 100
year floodplain and are exposed to the risk of flooding, being damaged or blocked –
possibly preventing access to certain areas. There are 106 bridges that could be impacted. Sewer
systems and culverts could also be affected.
The section on wildfire states that there have been 564 fires in the
county since 2005 that burned 330,000 acres and caused in excess of $3.6 million in
property damages. The fifth largest fire in California since 1932 occurred in Siskiyou County
in 2008. The Klamath Theater Complex fire, which started by lightning, burned 192,038
acres and cause two fatalities. Since the year 2000, the county has seen an average of 95
wildfires a year with an average of 55,000 acres burned each year.
Approximately 3.2 million acres in the county are in a high, very
high or extreme fire hazard severity zone. About 16,124 people (36% of the population) and
6,843 residential buildings are exposed to moderate fire hazard conditions; 9,426 people
(9%) and 3,927 residential buildings are exposed to high fire hazard conditions and 15,652
people (15%) and 6,521 residential buildings are exposed to very high fire hazard
conditions.
The value of buildings and contents exposed to damage by wildfire are
$1,855,175,933 in moderate fire areas; $964,520,981 in high risk fire areas; and
$1,346,823,331 in very high risk fire areas. In total, 671 critical public structures are
located in areas at risk of wildfire.
Grant funding can be used to provide long-term solutions to a
problem. The funds may be used either for public or private property. For instance, a home
may be elevated to reduce the risk of damage from a flood. Sandbags or pumps would not be
eligible as these are not long-term solutions.
The kinds of projects that could be done are: (1) Acquisition from
willing sellers for relocation of buildings or demolition. (This is when a structure is in
danger of repetitive damage.) (2) Retrofitting structures to harden against high wind,
earthquakes, flood or wildfire. (3) Elevation of flood prone structures. (4) Development
and initial implementation of vegetative management programs. (5) Minor flood control
projects (6) Localized flood control or levee projects to protect critical infrastructure.
The Guiding principles of the Siskiyou County Hazard Mitigation Plan
are to identify and reduce the vulnerability to natural hazards in order to protect the
health, safety, quality of life, environment and economy of the diverse communities within
the county. Some of the objectives are to: eliminate disruption to local government
operations; increase resilience of critical infrastructure; consider impacts of natural
hazards in planning future land use; educate the public about risks, preparation,
mitigation, response and recovery; retrofit, relocate or elevate structures in high flood
hazard areas; develop early warning response systems; and coordinate among all
jurisdictions.
The plan can be viewed here: http://www.co.siskiyou.ca.us/BOS/DOCS/agenda/2012/Questys/MG18551/AS18560/AI18709/DO18710/DO_18710.pdf (extremely large file)
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