Reducing Flood Insurance Premiums in Your Community through Planning

Local Hazard Mitigation Plans and the Community Rating System

The CDEM Mitigation Team has developed a crossover guide to help community floodplain managers and other hazard mitigation professionals receive Community Rating System (CRS) planning credit through FEMA’s multi‐hazard mitigation planning process.

Crossover Guide

A community’s FEMA approved multi-hazard mitigation plan may receive CRS points if it was prepared in accordance with the process explained in the NFIP CRS Coordinator’s Manual or FEMA’s Local Multi-Hazard Mitigation Planning Guidance. The crossover guide provides assistance on how steps for mitigation planning intersect with the steps required for CRS floodplain management planning. CRS planning credit may come from submitting an existing FEMA approved multi-hazard mitigation plan or by following the mitigation planning process and paying special attention to the related CRS steps.

Both the CRS manual and local mitigation planning guidance are being revised for 2012. Proposed changes to the CRS Coordinator’s Manual may be found at CRS2012.org, while the Local Mitigation Plan Review Guide contains the latest updates for mitigation planning. The crossover guide will be revised to reflect these changes once both are finalized.

As it currently stands, for every 500 CRS points a community earns, NFIP flood insurance premiums are adjusted downward to reflect the greater amount of planning completed to reduce the impact of flood hazards on the community. Some communities may reach their next 500-point threshold by earning points available for CRS planning credit.

CDEM expresses gratitude to the FEMA Region VIII Mitigation Section’s community planners and the Insurance Services Office (ISO) for their contributions and support in developing this tool.

Please feel free to contact Ken Brink, Mitigation Team Supervisor, with questions or comments at kenneth.brink@state.co.us or 720-852-6695.

Batteries: A Little-Known Risk to Small Children

Candle Safety This Holiday Season

Four of the top five days for home fires caused by candles occur during the winter holiday season.  These five days include:  Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, New Year's Day, Halloween and December 23.  Safety experts say that the dramatic increase on these five days is due to the use of candles in holiday decorations and the result of simple human error. 

1. Avoid using lighted candles. A safe option can be battery powered candles.
    
2. Put candles in a sturdy metal, glass or ceramic holder.
    
3. Create a safety zone around the candle free of items that can start on fire.  A three-foot safety zone is recommended as the safest practice.
    
4. Keep candles out of the reach of children and pets.  Children should not be allowed to use matches, lighters or candles.  Their curiosity can often lead to tragedy.
    
5. Extinguish candles when leaving the room or your home.  Never leave candles unattended.

An NFPA report on Candle Fires showed that they cause over 15,000 home fires each year.  These fires lead to more than 1,289 injures and 166 deaths.  More than half of the fires started because the candles were too close to other combustible items.  The good news is that all of these fires are preventable.  It just takes a few extra steps to ensure that you home is safe.  Visit the USFA Focus on Fire Safety website for additional information on using candles safely this winter.

Fall Back on Sound Advice: Time to Change Your Clock AND Check Your Smoke Alarm Batteries

As our nation moves back to Standard Time beginning this weekend, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) encourages you to mark the occasion as a time to test your home smoke alarms and replace the batteries if more than one year old.

Every year in the United States about 3,500 people die in home fires.  Most of these deaths occurred in homes that didn't have a working smoke alarm.

 Every day in the United States, needless home fire deaths occur. Working smoke alarms significantly increase your chance of surviving a deadly home fire. A properly installed and maintained smoke alarm is the only thing in your home that can alert you and your family to a fire 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether you're awake or asleep, a working smoke alarm is constantly on alert scanning the air for fire and smoke.

In addition to changing your smoke alarm batteries this weekend, the USFA recommends following these simple steps to protect your life, your loved ones, and your home:

• Dust or vacuum smoke alarms when you change the batteries.

• Test alarms once a month using the test button.

• Replace the entire alarm if it's more than 10 years old or doesn't work properly when tested.

• Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, including the basement, and both inside and outside of sleeping areas.

• For the best protection, equip your home with a combination of ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms or dual sensor alarms.

• Interconnect all smoke alarms throughout your home so that when one sounds, they all sound. Interconnected alarms are available at most stores that sell smoke alarms.

• Make sure everyone in your home understands the warning of the smoke alarm and knows how to respond.

Finally, prepare and practice an escape plan so that you and your loved ones can get out of your home safely should there be a fire. Plan to meet in a place a safe distance from the fire and where first responders can easily see you.

For more information on smoke alarms, fire escape planning, and fire prevention, visit the USFA website at www.usfa.fema.gov/smokealarms.

Earthquake Preparedness

Be Prepared for an Earthquake and share the Earthquake Information Fact Sheet

For additional information on the recent quakes visit our partners:

• The US Geological Survey http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ 
• The Colorado Geological Survey    http://geosurvey.state.co.us/hazards/Earthquakes/Pages/Earthquakes.aspx

Drop, Cover and Hold
When you feel and earthquake, DROP and COVER under a desk or sturdy table.  Stay away from windows and objects like bookcases that could fail.  HOLD on to the desk or table.  If it moves, move with it.  Do not run - stay where you are.  "Drop, Cover and Hold."


Be Prepared for an Earthquake

•  Anchor appliances and tall, heavy furniture that might fall.  Put latches on cabinets doors to keep contents from spilling out.
•  Find out how you can improve your home to protect it against earthquake damage.
• Establish an "out-of-area" contact and keep the phone numbers handy.  This is the person family members will call if you are separated.
• Have a place at home where emergency supplies are kept and tell others where it is.

During an Earthquake

If you are Indoors

•  Stay inside.  Move under a desk or sturdy table and hold on to it.  If it moves, move with it.  Stay way from windows, bookcases, refrigerators, heavy mirrors, hanging plants, and other objects that could fall.  Do not go outside until the shaking stops.
•  If you are in a crowded store or public place, do not rush for an exit.  Move away from display shelves holding objects that could fall on you, and "Drop, Cover and Hold."
•  If you are in a theater or stadium, stay in your seat, protect your head with your arms or get under the seat.  Do not leave until the shaking stops.

If you are Outdoors

•  If you are outdoors, move to a clear area away from trees, signs, buildings or downed electrical wires and poles.

If you are in a Downtown Area

• If you are on a sidewalk near a tall building, get into a building's doorway or lobby to protect yourself from falling bricks, glass and other debris

If you are Driving

• If you are driving, slowly pull over to the side of the road and stop.  Avoid overpasses, power lines and other hazards.  Stay inside the vehicle until the shaking stops.

If you are in a wheelchair

•  If you are in a wheelchair, stay in it.  Move to safe cover if possible, lock your wheels and protect your head with your arms.

After the Earthquake

•  If you were evacuated, wait until you are told it is safe before returning home
•  Be careful entering buildings.  Stay away from downed power lines.
•  Check yourself and those around your for injuries.
•  Be prepared for aftershocks.
•  Use the phone only to report a life-threatening emergency.
•  Do not drive unnecessarily.
•  If you smell gas or a hissing sound - open a window and leave the building.  Shut off the main gas valve outside.
•  Check on neighbors, particularly elderly or disabled persons.
•  Try to contact your out-of-area phone contact.
•  Listen to your radio.

Colorado Division of Insurance Preparedness Guide

Are your home and belongings properly insured should a disaster strike? The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies' (DORA) Division of Insurance has created a useful guide detailing actions homeowners may take to prepare them for such a scenario. When was the last time you took an inventory of your belongings and stored this information where you would be able to access it after a disaster? This, along with many other insurance tips are available in the guide. Evaluating an insurance policy is too often done post disaster, determining what your insurance covers and what it does not is an invaluable exercise that can streamline a family's ability to recover should a major event impact them. The DORA guide below offers information which can be helpful for preparing for the next event and guaranteeing your home and belongings are properly insured.

You can view or download additional copies of the DORA guide online.

Landslide/Rockslide Safety Tips and Resources

Landslides are masses of rock, earth, or debris moving down a slope.  They are activated by rainstorms, earthquakes, fires and by human-caused projects, such as road/building construction.  Landslides can vary widely in size and can move at slow or very high speed depending on slope angle, water content, and type of earth and debris flow.  Flows are generally initiated by heavy, usually sustained, periods of rainfall, but can sometimes happen as a result of shorts bursts of concentrated rainfall.  Burned areas, such as from wildland fires, are also susceptible to debris flows.

Landslide/Rockslide Warning Signs

- Springs, seeps, or saturated ground in areas that not typically been wet before

- New cracks or unusual bulges in ground, street pavements or sidewalks

- Soil moving away from foundations or tree root systems

- Titling or cracking of concrete floors and foundations

- Structures such as decks and patios tilting and/or moving relative to the main house

- Broken water lines and other underground utilities

- Leaning telephone poles, trees, retaining walls or fences

- Offset fence lines

- Sunken or down-dropped road beds

- Rapid increase in creek water levels, possibly accompanied by increased water soil content

- Sudden decrease in creek water levels through rain is still falling or just recently stopped

- Sticking doors and windows, and suddenly appearing open spaces in frames or construction

- Faint rumbling sound that increases in volume as the landslide nears

- Unusual sounds, such as trees cracking or boulders knocking together

Areas generally prone to landslide hazards

- Existing old landslide paths

- On or at the base of slopes

- In or at the base of minor drainage hollows

- At the base or top of an old fill slope

- At the base or top of a steep cut slope

- Developed hillsides where leach field septic systems are used

Before a Landslide/Rockslide - House

- Do not build near steep slopes, close to mountain edges, near drainage ways or erosion valleys

- Get a ground assessment of your property

- Contact local officials, the Colorado Geological Survey (http://geosurvey.state.co.us/) or the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (http://dnr.state.co.us/)

- Watch the patterns of storm-water drainage near your home and note the convergence locations

- Learn about the emergency response and evacuation plans for your area.  Check with your local emergency manager (http://dola.colorado.gov/dem/localem.htm) for emergency information specific to your area, including local preparedness information, warning systems and sources of information in the event of a disaster.

- Minimize hazards around your home by installing flexible pipe fittings, planting ground cover on slopes, building retaining walls, or channels to direct flow around buildings.

During a Landslide/Rockslide

- Stay alert when driving or around your house during storms.  Debris-flow fatalities occer in the home when people are sleeping during storms and on the roadways when fast moving material impacts the road.  When driving, remember to look around and up when in mountain areas.

- Be aware of weather conditions and remember that short burst of rain, particularly after longer periods of heavy rainfall and damp weather, can be especially dangerous conditions conducive to landslides/rockslides

- Stay out of the path of a landslide or rockslide, no matter how slow the ground appears to be moving

- Listen for any unusual sounds that might indicate moving debris, such as trees cracking or boulders knocking together.  A trickle flow may precede the much larger event and many slides can onset rapidly.

- If you are near a stream or channel, be alert for sudden changes in water levels or if the water changes from clear to muddy.  Such changes indicate activity upstream and you should be prepared to move quickly.

- Be especially alert when driving.  Bridges may be washed out, culverts overtopped and boulders may be dislodged.  Embankments upon roadsides and the base of high-angle, steep terrain are particularly susceptible to landslides and rockslides. 

- Contact your local fire, police or public works department immediately if you suspect or have witnessed a landslide.

- Inform affected neighbors.  You neighbors, and particularly visitors to Colorado unfamiliar with mountain terrain, my not be aware of potential hazards.  Advising them of the threat may help save their lives.

- Evacuate any area you suspect of being involved in or imminently threatened by a landslide/rockslide

- If in landslide/rockslide with no option to evacuate, curl in to a tight ball and protect your head.

After a landslide/rockslide

- Stay away from the slide area.  There may be danger of additional slides.

- Contact local officials to provide information on the slide location and any injuries/conditions

- Listen to local radio or television stations or emergency management warning systems for info

- Watch for flooding, which may occur after a landslide or debris flow.  Floods are often tandem with landslides/rockslides since they may share a root cause

- Check for injured and trapped persons near the slide, without entering the slide area.  Stay on-site to direct rescuers to their locations.

- Help anyone who may require special assistance.  Elderly, families with young children and people with disabilities my benefit from the additional help.

- Look for and report any broken utility lines and damaged roadways and railways to appropriate authorities.  Reporting potential hazards will help direct efforts to mitigate any additional hazards and injury.

- Check building foundations, chimneys, and surrounding land for damage. 

- Replant damaged ground as soon as possible since erosion caused by loss of ground cover can lead to additional flooding, landslides/rockslides. 

- Seek advice from experts to evaluate remaining or existing hazards or to design corrective techniques to reduce risk.  Contact local emergency management officials, the the Colorado Geological Survey (http://geosurvey.state.co.us/) or the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (http://dnr.state.co.us/) for more.

And for much, much more on landslide/rockslide issues, history and safety, be sure to check out the source for most of the above safety tips, the United States Geological Survey's outstanding landslide information website at http://landslides.usgs.gov/learning/ls101.php

Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery

Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery is a great annual tradition tied to the time change to help remind us to take an important step to help bolster home fire safety. As you are probably aware, tonight we Spring Forward -- which is a nice way of saying "you get to loose an hour of sleep". As annoying as the loss of sleep is, it is still a good chance to take a look at your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, change the batteries and make sure they are in good working order. Too often, these intentionally piercing devices are the first warning that something in the house is not right and you need to check it out or get out.

For more info on smoke alarms, the National Fire Protection Association has a great site for fire/home safety at http://nfpa.org and has some great videos, including the one below, on their Youtube site http://www.youtube.com/user/nfpadotorg on a variety of safety subjects.

NFPA Smoke Alarm Video



Truth is, the best protection for you and your family against a disaster are simple steps like checking smoke alarms, developing a family communications plan, and putting an emergency kit together. So, as the time changes this Spring, be sure to check your smoke alarm batteries, but also take a minute to develop a communications plan to ensure family members know how to get in touch with each other during an emergency, put together an emergency kit, and talk through what you or your family might do in the event of an emergency.

Information on preparing for Colorado emergencies can be found at READYColorado - http://readycolorado.gov.