Kh. & JA Discussion Response:
I agree with you that small towns should have their own HVA/THIRA and due to the rather small scope compared to cities, counties and regions, I believe that it should be tailored to the unique needs of the small town. According to Sund (2016), the best strategy is to analyze the local threats and hazards then break them down into three groups i.e. human-caused, technological and ultimately natural hazards. She also recommends that the list of hazards should be culled based on the probability of occurrence, or by referring to previous local hazards, and crossing off hazards that with the lowest probability of occurring. The hazards should then be prioritized using a combination of potential impact, vulnerability, and probability. The most likely to occur hazards have the highest probability, impact, and vulnerability and thus should top the list while low impact hazards move to the bottom. Issues arise when it comes to dealing with middle-level hazards especially when balancing priorities between levels of vulnerability, impact and probability. It also helps to apply the localization criteria where if the town is on a hill, then floods are less likely and are thus bottom of the table while it is vice versa in low-altitude areas. This strategy requires just an educated discussion and logic to come up with a comprehensive and well-localized HVA/THIRA for small towns, as opposed to HVA tools that employ complex formulas, and use weighted values which are subjective, and thus may not match the specific (unique) threats and hazards of a small area. These kinds of tools are often necessary for large areas with a variety of hazards (Sund, 2016).
References:
Sund, S. (2016). THIRA | disasterdoc. Disasterdoc.net. Retrieved 1 July 2016, from https://disasterdoc.net/tag/thira/
County, city, regional and national HVA's vary in terms of scope and complexity and thus it is necessary for each community to assess the specific threats it faces. For example, Liberty County being a coastal town faces threats such as tsunamis and other flood-related disasters due to its low altitude. Thus by understanding the specific risks, a community will be able to make smart, localized and logical decisions on managing risks, mitigating threats and developing the necessary capabilities.
The Homeland Security THIRA Guide (2013), recommends that communities should assess the likelihood of unwanted events occurring, and by understanding how the threat landscape changes, then it is possible to understand the best risk management and planning strategies for the greatest risks spread across the whole range of threats and hazards faced. Conclusively, to design an effective HVA/THIRA for a county, city, or region it is necessary for the community and/or local government to follow the THIRA process so as to identify their capability targets and necessary resources required to mitigate anticipated threats and hazards.
References:
Homeland Security. (2013). Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Guide (2nd ed., pp. 1-6). Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/8ca0a9e54dc8b037a55b402b2a269e94/CPG201_htirag_2nd_edition.pdf
