Question One
The function of mitigation differs from that of other management disciplines in that it exclusively entails proactive measures taken to ensure reduction of long-term severity of human and material loss resulting from a disaster. On the contrary, other management disciplines aim at ensuring that human and natural phenomena do not result in disasters and when they do, there is readiness in regards to effective response and recovery. Particularly, they focus on short-term and immediate response mechanisms to an emergency whereas mitigation focuses on long-term minimization of impacts of a disaster on human beings, environment and the economy (Jerolleman and Kiefer).
Question Two
Recovery has been, for a long time, and still is an emergency tool that offers the best opportunities for mitigation. It represents the phase of emergency management whereby most mitigation efforts are executed. Additionally, it absorbs relatively more resources compared to its counterparts (Haddow, Bullock, and Coppola).
Question Three
Geographical information systems (GIS) have aided the practice of mitigation by providing invaluable insights which have proved to be instrumental in understanding the patterns and potential consequences of disasters. Besides, they have significantly lowered the cost of mitigation and statistically enriched the technical capacity for addressing disasters and their impacts (Tomaszewski).
Question Four
Most states entrust local authorities with the task of enacting structure codes that mandate rehabilitation of presently potentially hazardous structures. Due to prohibitive cost coupled with the fact that these authorities are under-resourced, their implementation is has been poor.
Question Five
Mitigation programs are most efficient at planning and construction governmental level.
Question Six
The most effective land-use mitigation instrument comprises environmental evaluations, easements, takeovers, acquisition, management designs, stormwater and flooding plains (Haddow, Bullock, and Coppola).
Question Seven
Financial incentive is the most effective political argument that can be used to drum up political support for mitigation programs. For instance, it may take the form of insurance subsidy. Insurance subsidies result in lower insurance premiums. Ultimately, insurance cost is made affordable hence more members of the society are covered against risks occasioned by disasters (Sylves)
Question Eight
Community Development Block Grant has been instrumental in enabling local communities to perform local mitigation. Particularly, it has been able to do so through the extension of federal loans to local communities.
Question Nine
Some people consider insurance as not being a suitable mitigation tool. They predicate their view on the ground that what insurance achieves in the long run is the transfer of potential cost of risks to the society from an individual as opposed to directly addressing the risk at a personal level (Haddow, Bullock, and Coppola).
Question Ten
One of the most controversial tools of mitigation is structural controls. This is as a result of their mitigation capacity that is restricted to controlling risks instead of minimizing them. Additionally, structural controls have the potential of negatively affecting the areas they are apparently protecting by unjustifiably curtailing developmental activities (Haddow, Bullock, and Coppola).
Question Eleven
Attempts by communities willing to implement hazard mitigation are not without challenges. Most hazards are region-specific. Therefore, the corresponding mitigation programs have to be tailored to meet the specific needs of a particular hazard in a community. It is not only costly but technically challenging too (Sahni, Dhameja, and Medury).
Question Twelve
The Primary Federal mitigation program is the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. It is so far the largest financier for state and local mitigation programs. It was established to extend grants to states and local governments for funding of long-term mitigation programs following the presidential declaration of a disaster.
Question Thirteen
Besides Federal mitigation programs, there are non-federal ones as well.
Works Cited
Haddow, George D, Jane A Bullock and Damon P Coppola. Introduction to Emergency Management. Oxford: Elsevier, 2014.
Jerolleman, Alassandra and John J Kiefer. Natural Hazard Mitigation. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2013.
Sahni, Pardeep, Alka Dhameja and Uma Medury. Disaster Mitigation: Experiences and Reflections. New Delhi: PHI Learning Limited, 2010.
Sylves, Richard. Disaster Policy and Politics: Emergency Management and Homeland Security. Washington DC: CQ Press, 2014.
Tomaszewski, Brian. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for Disaster Management. London: CRC Press, 2015.
