REVISING A GEOLOGIC HAZARD ASSESSMENT TO UPDATE KENTUCKY'S MITIGATION PLAN

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, as a condition for receiving certain types of federal nonemergency disaster assistance, including funding for projects to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, requires states, tribes, and local governments to develop hazard mitigation plans. These plans, mandated by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, identify risks and vulnerabilities associated with natural disasters and include strategies for protecting people and property from future events. The legislation requires the plans to be updated every 5 years.

Kentucky’s Division of Emergency Management is currently updating the 2013 edition of the state’s mitigation plan. The plan addresses flood, earthquake, karst and sinkholes, mine and land subsidence, landslides, dam failure, forest fires, and six weather-related hazards. Emergency Management has turned to outside agencies, including the Kentucky Geological Survey, for help with this update. This project draws on the expertise of qualified KGS researchers to provide a scientifically valid assessment of Kentucky’s geologic hazards, which can reduce the effects of hazards in the state.

The Survey’s Geologic Hazards Section, which studies earthquakes and landslides, will update the assessment of those hazards. Section researchers will use information from the Kentucky Seismic and Strong-Motion network, landslide reports from a variety of sources, and research projects conducted by KGS. FEMA’s HAZUS software will also be used to assess earthquake risk. The KGS Water Resources Section will use information from its karst research and a large database on Kentucky sinkholes to update that portion of the geologic hazards assessment. Maps of mined areas in Kentucky acquired from the state Abandoned Mine Lands agency will be overlain on maps of the most recent census data to determine which areas of the state are potentially susceptible to mine subsidence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index will also be used for the project.