Do disasters worry you? Carrboro wants to know

GOVERNMENT

CARRBORO–What kind of disaster worries you the most? Drought? Earthquake? Flood? Hurricane? Plague? Terrorism? Whatever your concerns, Carrboro would like to know about them.

Carrboro participates in the Eno-Haw Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan along with Alamance, Durham, Orange, and Person Counties and incorporated communities in those counties. The plan anticipates and ranks potential threats, both natural and man-made, figures out how to minimize potential damage, and also how to recover if the worst happens.

The most recent version of the plan dates back to 2020. Carrboro and its partners have to keep the plan up to date to qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hazard-mitigation funding. Updating happens on a five-year cycle, so Carrboro and its fellow local governments are working on a new plan. Part of the updating process involves surveying residents of the Eno-Haw region about disaster risks and ways to mitigate them. Carrboro says you can complete the survey any time until the end of December.

Fail to plan, plan to fail

Congress passed the Disaster Mitigation Act in 2000 to encourage and improve disaster-mitigation planning. The act makes developing a plan an eligibility requirement for governments applying for federal funding sources such as the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, and the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program.

The plan focuses on mitigating high and moderate priority hazards. How vulnerable are Carrboro and other parts of the region to various hazards? What will it take to manage and mitigate the risk? FEMA defines hazard mitigation as any sustained effort to reduce or eliminate the risks from hazards such as floods, toxic-waste spills, civil unrest, and tornadoes. Mitigation planning identifies hazards, calculates the risks, and figures out how to reduce or eliminate the threat.

There are a variety of steps governments and residents can take to reduce the risks when a catastrophe hits. Some of them are small-scale, such as installing storm shutters. Some mitigate hazards through regulation, such as restricting construction in floodplains or requiring buffers around streams and rivers. Some are structural, such as floodwalls, levees and drainage infrastructure. Good education and evacuation planning also can help.

The 2020 plan looks in detail at various potential threats. Take dam failures, for example: out of 260 dams in the Eno-Haw area, 164(63% are at low risk for failure while 63 are at high risk. The failure of a local dam would only affect a small area but the consequences could include property damage, injury, and death. The warning time before the breach would be limited to less than six hours.

Using a scoring system called the Priority Risk Index, the plan rates the various potential hazards based on the probability, the potential damage, the warning time, and other factors. Weather in the form of extreme heat, thunderstorm winds or a severe winter storm, topped the index. Earthquakes and landslides scored at the bottom.

What are your thoughts?

The survey asks which of the four counties you live in, or if you work there but live outside the Eno-Haw area. It asks if you’ve been hit by any sort of hazard (a natural or man-made disaster) and to provide a short explanation if the answer is yes. Then it asks which hazards you worry about and how much:

Dam failure.
Drought
Earthquake
Extreme heat.
Flood
Hurricane
Landslide
Severe weather.
Winter storm.
Tornado
Wildfire
Civil unrest.
Critical infrastructure failure.
Cyber threat.
Hazardous materials incident.
Infectious disease.
Radiological emergency.
Terrorism

Then come questions about flood insurance, any steps you’ve taken to protect your property from hazards that worry you, and suggestions for what local governments can do to mitigate risk. And if Carrboro has advice for residents on how to reduce disaster risks, what’s the best way to reach you?

The plan website will provide updates on the work when there’s anything new to report. Carrboro’s press release about the survey says you can also contact the Fire Department or Planning Department for more information about the town’s hazard-mitigation efforts.

Fraser Sherman has worked for newspapers, including the Destin Log, the Pensacola News-Journal and the Raleigh Public Record. Born in England, he’d still live in Florida if he hadn’t met the perfect woman and moved to Durham to marry her. He’s the author of several film reference books and has published one novel and several short story collections.
This reporter can be reached at Info@TheLocalReporter.press