ROCKLAND — Last week, New York and New Jersey attached a combined $71 billion price tag to Hurricane Sandy, a cost that will born partially by U.S. taxpayers through Federal Management Emergency Agency relief funds. That money gets directed immediately to serving basic human needs. Then, funds are distributed for recovery, to rebuild infrastructure and clean up after floods, droughts, earthquakes, even biological and nuclear catastrophes. It is the recovery funding that is trickier to access, and states and counties that have their paperwork in order are able to more readily access some of those funds.

This fall, Knox County is getting a large chunk of that documentation filed, which is why every council, select board and selectmen's meeting agenda in all Knox County municipalities have scheduled the adoption of the Knox County Hazardous Mitigation Plan. The plan was prepared Knox County EMA with the help of Eric Gallant at the Mid-Coast Regional Planning Commission. St George selectmen approved the plan at their Nov. 19 meeting; likewise, Hope selectmen approved the plan Nov. 27, following some discussion. This week, Rockland will consider it; next week, Rockport and other Knox County towns. Once adopted, the plan is sent off the FEMA for approval, and filing, along with plans that cover 26,000 other jurisdictions in the 50 states.

FEMA has a specific structure for helping populations in distress. It maintains its disaster relief funds, but it also maintains its pre-disaster planning funds, which are distributed to communities that have identified specific projects to mitigate infrastructure and property damages in the event of disaster. Over the last five years, $270 million in federal pre-disaster mitigation grants were distributed, of which $52.2 million was for mitigation plans. In the same period, another $120 million was distributed for flood mitigation assistance, according to the U.S. Office of Inspector General, which surveyed Homeland Security's hazard mitigation planning program.

How much communities receive in funding depends whether state, county and municipal have completed their hazardous mitigation planning.  It may sound bureaucratic, but if not filed, the chances are slimmer to get in the pipeline for help after a disaster.

The federal money can be used for projects as simple as installing clips in house roofs in hurricane-prone areas; elevating a home to reduce flood damage, as opposed to buying sandbags and pumps to fight the flood; or strengthening walls for high winds. It can be used to purchase wildfire flghting equipment, and repair seawalls, roads and culverts.

Remember this?

Storm of Record
The Great Ice Storm of ’98. From the Knox County Hazard Mitigation Plan:

"The storm began Jan. 5 and continued through Jan. 25, 1998. Residents in Knox County and statewide experienced effects from freezing rain, high winds, snow and ice. The combination of peak low-pressure areas, abundant moisture in the atmosphere, and cold temperatures near the ground caused significant rainfall and severe icing. Gusts were reported up to 50 miles per hour and brought much colder air and temperatures dropped to single digits. Wind chills were in the minus 20 to minus 40 degree range. The mixture of precipitation continued into the afternoon of Jan. 25, with significant icing along the coast.

"Extending from western New York to Maine, below-freezing temperatures combined with record rainfall contributed to the formation of a blanket of solid ice. In some places, more than three inches of ice coated the rural and urban landscape.

"On Jan. 13, 15 of Maine's 16 counties were declared federal disaster areas, including Knox County, eligible for Infrastructure Support assistance. The Disaster Declaration was amended to cover Individual Assistance on Jan. 15, and Aroostook, the final county, was added.

"Hazard Mitigation funds to reduce future disaster risks were made available Jan. 13. At its peak, more than half of Maine's population was without power, caused by ice that coated lines and branches an inch-thick.

"Many state and secondary roads were closed because of downed trees on power lines. State, county, and municipal government offices were closed, and innumerable businesses were forced to close and remain closed because of blocked roadways and power outages.

"As a result, 130 emergency shelters were opened throughout the state. Heat, electricity, refrigeration, running water, and sanitary facilities were all nterrupted by the power outage.

"Maine Public Television and Radio remained unavailable to most viewers for more than a week. Other commercial radio and television stations in south-central Maine lost communication towers and or electrical power and were unable to broadcast. Even the Emergency Alert System failed."

In less recent memory was Hurricane Edna in Sept. 1954.
Edna produced $7,000,000 in damages to a coastal swath of Maine including Knox County, according to the plan. "The hurricane resulted in eight deaths in Maine and power outages. The damage in 2009 dollars would be about $55,480,000. However, this figure should be increased to $77,078,000 to account for the substantial amount of primary and second homes and commercial development in coastal counties since 1954.... Prorating the damage based on population, Knox County could have $5,110,722 in damages from a similar hurricane event. The following Hurricanes also caused damage in Maine: Carol 1954, Gloria 1985, Bob 1991, and Floyd 1999, but those hurricanes did not cause recorded damage in Knox County."

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security: "Hazard mitigation is defined as any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from hazards. It is intended to break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. Mitigation activities may be implemented before, during, or after an incident. However, it has been demonstrated that hazard mitigation is most effective when based on an inclusive, long-term plan that is developed before a disaster occurs. Two recent cost-benefit analyses found that every $1 spent on mitigation saved society $3 to $4."

"Participation in a mitigation plan is a condition for a variety of related grant-funding programs available to municipalities and other eligible entities," said Ray Sisk, Knox County EMA director. "Plan participation at the local or county level is not a prerequisite for disaster assistance, but is if disaster-related mitigation improvements are sought."

This Knox County Hazardous Mitigation Plan is 115 pages of dense assessment and planning, and in it are specified strategies for coping with all that nature delivers. Around here, the worst of it manifests mainly as blizzards, ice and sleet storms; severe — and copious — rain; flash floods, ice jams, and dam failures; fires, coastal erosion and landslides (remember Rockland).

The plan identifies areas in Knox County that could pose hazards under certain scenarios, and though the magnitude of Hurricane Sandy's effect — physically and fiscally — on New York and New Jersey would be a rare experience in Maine, those who gather monthly at the Rockland headquarters of Knox County EMA have learned never to say never. The three-week long Ice Storm of 1998, which struck Maine, New Brunswick, Quebec and New York was followed by $48 million in FEMA-eligible funding for state, county and local governments and infrastructure rebuilding. Although that storm is 14 years in passing, it is a memory that lingers. Maine's Emergency Management Agency, "Maine Prepares," even keeps a webpage open about it.

"The overwhelmingly positive outcome of the Ice Storm was the knowledge that Maine people, even in the face of this level of disaster, possess the greatest resource possible: each other," the site says. "'“Neighbor helping neighbor' may well have saved lives. Neighbors working together certainly helped hundreds of families to weather the enormous stress of the storm and its aftermath. But recovery was not instantaneous. MEMA and state and local partners were involved with individuals and businesses making personal recoveries for months and, in some cases, even years."

Knox County, with approximately 39,735 citizens, is 1,142 square miles in size, of which 776 square miles is water. It has islands – Isle au Haut, Crie Haven and Muscle Ridge, Matinicus, North Haven and Vinalhaven — and 13 of its 17 municipalities (and one plantation) lie along the coast. There are 13 lakes and large ponds, and mountains are scattered throughout. While the highest monthly precipitation is 5.37 inches, there have been times when it has poured buckets, such as one summer storm that dumped 11 inches of rain in the Camden area alone.

EMAs divides emergency management into four tiers: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Mitigation is considered step one of the four and mitigation plans are to be revised every five years. This identification and classification stems from the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. FEMA approved the first-ever Knox County Hazard Mitigation Plan in 2005, and this revision began in 2009. The next revision is scheduled for 2014.

Part of the document is to assess vulnerabilities and risks in the county, and determine how to avoid reoccuring damage. The planning team, comprising representatives from all county communities, then agreed on general priorities applied across the county.

"Life/safety was the first priority for all five profiled hazards," the plan reads. "Property protection was the second priority for all five profiled hazards. Public facilities were the third priority for summer and winter storm risk. Road protection was the third priority for flooding risks. Timber protection was the third priority, for wildfire risk."

Recommendations, and there hundreds of them in the plan, range from developing emergency procedures and providing response training to maintaining a list of special needs people who would be vulnerable during a power outage, and encouraging the public to check on the safety of elderly or infirm neighbors, who also may be adversely affected by power outages.

Recommendations also include developing warning and evacuation plans and systems for fast moving forest fires, training all firefighters in Wildland Fire Fighting Safety; equipping all fire departments with sufficient wildfire personal protection equipment, and introducing building codes requiring fire-retardant roofing and siding materials.

Knox County municipalities each identified specific concerns. Rockland cited a need to prevent further damage to a seawalls at various points around the city by excavating, adding bigger fill and more riprap, and recovering it with asphalt.

Owls Head indicated a need to obtain a generator for its municipal building, as the septic system there depends on a pump. Owls Head also said reengineering and constructing a new boat ramp at the end of Main Street would reduce washouts from severe storms.

Thomaston targeted several drainage projects; Union, road improvements in its hilly territory; Criehaven, selective cutting to reduce fire hazards; and in the other towns, much culvert work and road repair.

In all the towns, the intent is to restore normal life and commerce as efficiently and quickly as possible. For storm planning, the plan stresses educating the public about the importance of being self-supporting for up to 72 hours by keeping emergency supplies on hand. This includes educating the public, as well, about where to find emergency shelters, and to encourage homeowners to keep primary and secondary egress routes cleared.

Other objectives include:

Acquiring generators for all critical facilities, such as public safety buildings, public works garages, and water and sewer plants, schools and shelters.

Encourage homeowners to have generators, nonelectrical heating, or alternate energy sources, such as solar, wind or hydropower.

Develop a written municipal road snow and ice removal operations plan that includes a prioritization of roads to be cleared.

Train and equip a quick-response Road Debris Clearance Team from public works, fire department, and/or volunteers.

Develop mutual aid agreements with local ATV and snowmobile organizations.

Develop warning and evacuation plans and systems for landslide prone areas.

Encourage enforcement of state-mandated shoreland zoning provisions that restrict future development in landslide prone areas.

Educate homeowners on tactics to protect their homes or development sites from landslides, including the use of shoreland stabilization, riprap, and re-grading where state law allows such mitigation.

Develop warning and evacuation plans and systems for fast moving forest fires.

Train all firefighters in Wildland Fire Fighting Safety.

Equip all fire departments with sufficient wildfire personal protection equipment.

Educate the public of dangers of forest fires.

Introduce building codes requiring fire-retardant roofing and siding materials.

Educate homeowners on tactics to protect their homes from wildfires.

Provide more authority and better training to the municipal Fire Wardens.

Encourage the construction of fire ponds by private landowners.

Encourage private landowners to cut back tree growth along access drives.

Monitor the preparation of Emergency Action Plans for high hazard dams, and review the results of dam inspections by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Encourage FEMA to update flood boundary maps and flood insurance rate maps.

Educate drivers on risks of crossing flooded roadways.

Develop a “Barricade Plan” to block flooded roads in order to prevent crossing by vehicle operators. Acquire necessary barricade equipment and supplies.

Educate the public on staying away from flooded riverbanks.

Encourage participation in the flood insurance program, as well as actions needed to ensure continued municipal compliance with national flood prevention guidelines.

Implement and enforce local floodplain management ordinances to minimize future flood losses caused by new construction.

Encourage homeowners in flood zones to mitigate their properties.

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@PenBayPilot.com; 706-6657