Importance of Hazard Mitigation Programs in Reducing Damages Caused by Disasters

Importance of Hazard Mitigation Programs in Reducing Damages Caused by Disasters
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Multihazard Mitigation Saves
The Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC), a department of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), performed this study to quantify savings that might result from implementing hazard mitigation activities. The three primary grant programs funding hazard mitigation activities include the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program, Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, and Project Impact. The report focuses on two main types of project mitigation activities, namely project, and process. Project mitigation involves physical measures taken to reduce damages caused by disasters, such as relocating structures that might be affected by floods or earthquakes. On the contrary, process mitigations refer to projects, practices, and policies that decrease loss and risk, such as educating decision-makers and assessing structure vulnerabilities. The paper focuses on two primary things from the MMC report that I agree or disagree with the author’s viewpoints.
I agree with the MMC report that a dollar spent on hazard mitigation activities saves an average of $4 (The Multihazard Mitigation Council, 2005). In particular, project and process mitigations are essential since they reduce damages experienced when a disaster occurs. The MMC report posits numerous benefits that arise from the implementation of proper hazard mitigation activities. One of them is reduced property destruction, such as pipelines, bridges, and buildings. Businesses are not interrupted directly or indirectly. For example, less damaged industries exist and ripple effects, such as unemployment that arise when companies are disrupted. Additionally, there is reduced nonmarket damages, meaning no or less damages to the environmental and historical structures. People’s lives are saved since there are fewer cases of injuries, displacement, death, and homelessness (The Multihazard Mitigation Council, 2005). Moreover, the cost of emergency response is minimal. In other words, hazard mitigation activities are significant since they help communities to prepare for expected disasters. For instance, if a specific region is affected by floods during the rainy season, it means that individuals in such areas are evacuated before the disaster occurs. Besides, protective dikes might be constructed to ensure that no flood water ...