Tag Archives | planning

QUICK-TIP: Using Google Earth to View FIRMs

Need to quickly check to see which flood zone a property is in? Have Google Earth installed on your computer (it’s free, though you may need administrative rights to install it on your computer)? FEMA has a page explaining how to get those pesky FIRMs into your mapping system. Read about it here: Using the […]

Updated FEMA Hazard Mitigation Planning Training

Related to yesterday’s post, FEMA is now offering an updated 12 hour on-line training for hazard mitigation planning. The goals of IS-318, Mitigation Planning for Local and Tribal Communities (also referred to as Hazard Mitigation Planning) are: Assist participants in undertaking the hazard mitigation plan development process. This plan will meet the needs of your […]

Best Practices for Coastal Louisiana Manual not just for Louisiana

The Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) and the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) recently released the Best Practices Manual for Development in Coastal Louisiana website. What’s novel about this site is that it provides strategies for creating sustainable and resilient coastal communities based on “geotypes” (pick from chenier plain, alluvium, upper riverbanks, middle riverbanks, […]

The Latest on Post-Disaster Recovery [audio]

The American Planning Association has released a short interview with Ed Thomas and Alessandra Jerolleman (both from the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association) on the best way for communities to recover quickly and safely from a major storm, flood, etc. Their work is the foundation of our (largely in development) After the Storm section. You can […]

City Folds Climate Change Adaptation into Hazard Mitigation Plan

“Hazard mitigation is very important and there’s a lot of value in looking at past events, but we know with climate change that we can’t use the past to project what the future will be like. For example, the flood that a community used to experience every 100 years may now be the 20-year flood.” […]

San Francisco Bay Adopts Climate Change Regulations

The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission has voted unanimously to pass a development plan for land within 100 feet of the bay’s coastline. The plan—which requires that decisions about land use in the area consider factors including the latest climate science and the importance of wetland restoration—gives the agency a tool to deny […]

FEMA Releases Updated Coastal Construction Manual

FEMA has updated their bible on construction in coastal areas, the Coastal Construction Manual. Like the bible, it’s no pamphlet: this version comes in at 253 pages and a hefty 33MB. But if you’re involved in any sort of construction in coastal areas (including deciding where it should happen), you already know that you need […]

New Tool: Coastal CHARM

I saw this impressive tool demonstrated at the Gulf of Mexico Alliance meeting last week. Super excited about it, and very much looking forward to what John Jacob and his Texas Sea Grant/AgriLife Extension Service crew come up with next. Coastal CHARM (Community Health And Resource Management) You can read more about it on the […]