PROJECT IMPACT

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PROJECT IMPACT
Building Disaster-Resistant Communities
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Heavy Disaster Costs

• FEMA spent 20 billion responding to disasters in
  49 states over past ten years
  
• Other federal agencies spent billions more
• State and local government, private sector and
  individuals also pay heavy costs

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The Damage to Business is Real

• Structural loss
• Business interruption
• Community infrastructure loss
• Customer loss
• Community loss

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Economic Toll from Disasters

• Businesses close
• People lose their jobs
• 40 of small businesses never open again

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Project Impact- Working Together

• Building Partnerships
• Identifying Risks
• Prioritizing Needs
• Implementing Long-Term Plans To Protect
  Communities
  
• Community Information Sharing

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Making Communities Disaster Resistant

• Strengthening Structures
• Homes
• Businesses
• Bridges
• Roads
• Public facilities schools, hospitals

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Making Communities Disaster Resistant

• Examining Building Codes
• Strengthen codes to meet disaster risks of your
  community
  
• Restricting Building Areas
• Local measures to discourage building in
  floodplains or high risk areas
  
• Protecting At-Risk Structures
• Protect structures in floodplains or high risk
  areas
  

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PROJECT IMPACT
is about cutting disaster costs. Taking
Responsibility--Taking Action.
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PROJECT IMPACT
GOAL is to Make Each and Every Community Disaste
r-Resistant.
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Americans Prepared

• Witt launches Project Impact at El Niño summit in
  Santa Monica in October 97
  
• People took action
• Californians secured roofs, cleaned culverts and
  drains and elevated utilities and electrical
  panels
  

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El Niño Prevention Pays Off

• Despite El Niño related storms and related severe
  weather, FEMA disaster-related costs remained
  level.
  

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P R O J E C T I M P A C T
A M o d e l f o r C o m m u n i t y A c t
i o n
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Where It Happens At the Local Level

• 7 pilot Project Impact communities
• Over 100 communities by 1999.

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Business PartnersProtecting Their Communities

• Business partners help to protect their company,
  employees, and community
  
• Goal to have 500 business partners by September
• Small, Medium and Large Companies...Home Depot,
  Bell Atlantic, Washington Mutual.
  
• Contingency Planning Exchange Mentoring Program

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Businesses Can Contribute-- What They Can Do.

• Responsibility to your Company
• Anheuser Busch Mitigation Efforts
• Responsibility to your Employees
• Michael Baker Associates - 10 or 50 off of
  flood insurance premium
  
• Responsibility to your Community
• Washington Mutual - loan program helps to
  protect their community
  

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The Business Impact is Real

• An investment in mitigation gets 100 return --
  at least.
  

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The Anheuser-Busch Return

• Pre-disaster investment in mitigation efforts
  saved 300 million in Northridge Earthquake --15X
  cost of investment in mitigation.
  

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PROJECT IMPACT
4 Phases to a Disaster-Resistant Community
1 Building Partnerships
2 Assessing Risk
3 Prioritizing Needs
4 Keep Your Community Informed
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First Phase Building Partnerships

• Organize A Disaster-Resistant Community Planning
  Committee
  
• Invite
• business and industry
• public works and utilities
• volunteer/community groups
• government
• education, health care, workforce

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Second Phase Are You Vulnerable?Risk Assessment

• What are the communitys risks for natural
  disasters?
  
• What specific structures and areas are most
  vulnerable?
  

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Third Phase Taking ActionSetting Priorities

• Identify mitigation priorities and take action
• Identify the measures you will take and do it!
• Identify and secure resources

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Fourth Phase It Takes Everyone!Communicate
Your Progress

• Keep your community informed as you take actions
• Promote involvement of your partners
• Maintain support for your long-term initiatives

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Deerfield Beach, FL., A Disaster Resistant
Community

• Business Alliance meets to.
• Has relocated critical city services into one
  disaster-resistant building
  
• Retrofitted school to serve as safe shelter
• Developed residential home retrofitting program
  to withstand threat of hurricanes

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Where to Get HelpProject Impact Resources

• Project Impact Guidebook
• Project Impact Brochure
• Project Impact Overview and Changing the Way
  America Deals with Disasters Video
  
• FEMA Technical Assistance
• Local Project Impact Coordinator
• Award Winning Website www.fema.gov
• 1-800-480-2520
• Other Communities

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PROJECT IMPACT
Changing the Way America Deals with Disasters