Mitigation “Plan(t)ing”

by Donna Bye, Houston Engineering, Inc. / Western Planner Board - North Dakota

FEMA defines Hazard Mitigation Planning in terms of reducing loss of life and property by minimizing the impact of disasters.  One must identify the natural disaster risks and vulnerabilities for their specific area and develop long term strategies for protecting life and property from these future events.  If a community can reduce the amount of damage from future events, the community can physically and economically rebound better. 

However beyond those factors, do we consider the psychological and emotional damage—collectively and individually—from natural disasters? As planners, how can we increase resiliency in both physical and mental dimensions for our communities through hazard mitigation planning?

A major flood in my community of Minot taught me poignant lessons which are forever ingrained in my memory and written deeply within my story.  Through that experience, I learned lessons to apply to psychological and emotional resilience first-hand.  I’ve included seven such lessons here. These thoughts are seeds. Like trees planted as a windblock, in my experience, many of these lessons must be planted and cultivated long before the cataclysms come crashing into our lives and towns.

Face what we can and what we cannot control. Mother Earth is hard to predict and harder to forgive sometimes. She brings us such blessings and such tragedy at times. The process of planning, and particularly hazard mitigation planning, is an act of assuming some level of control over that which we, in reality, have very little control—be it the future or a flood. 

It’s important to acknowledge that even with the most comprehensive hazard mitigation plan, it is only a mitigation plan and not an elimination plan; damage will still be done. When the flood waters rise, there are certain preventions that help stop the worst of the damage, but it is a herculean effort to stop any damage from every potential flood. We may think our 50 year flood preparations are adequate, but then the 100 year level flood hits. 

While acknowledging that our plans will not be a perfect protection, you can gain a great sense of communal empowerment from hazard mitigation planning: you can do something in the face of that unrealized peril, and there is a measure of comfort to be had and fear alleviated in that process. 

Serve the community. In this sense, the community is each individual affected and not an abstraction of brick and pavement. After the Minot flood, many of the community members I helped were as stunned and disoriented as I was. However, as a public servant, I could be a source of stability, information, and (as my home was similarly affected) understanding sympathy. Sometimes being on the receiving end of ire in public meetings can make us as planners a bit callous to the public. We can help heal the wounds of a disaster by helping others and be there for others. It is these times when being a civil servant takes on a greater dimension of significance. 

Those who interact with the public should be trained in front-line emotional triage. People in crisis, or those who have experienced loss, are likely in a high-stress state and may need help emotionally de-escalating. In crisis situations, it’s often all-hands-on-deck to respond and everyone should have proper training to not add difficulty to an already overwhelming situation. 

Make local government an anchor. During times of crisis, people look to leadership at all levels for help— whatever their political persuasion. Our local government office (or mobile command center) can be a clear coordinating calm in the storm. To provide that stability, we need to be ready with answers for those who come desperately asking. This likely means having communication lines ready to state and potentially even federal government so we can have some answers quickly. 

Whether we have concrete answers or not, as stated above, those who interact with the public should be trained beforehand in front-line emotional triage. Some of this is just good customer service, but ensure each person is heard, validated, and provided some progress towards their goal.  If we don’t have clear answers, ensure that each person’s name, contact information and situation are captured so we can follow up and not leave them with a sense of futility in seeking our aid or hopelessness. 

Ensure our mitigation plans are simple and direct. Thinking clearly is not easy during a major event. You don’t want to be fumbling and questioning what your response should be in the middle of a crisis. Identifying early who is in the best position to carry out the roles assigned to them and ensure beforehand that they have the ability to do so.  People aren’t comforted by the possibility of action; they want action. 

We really are stronger together. This is true for our communities and us individually. As communities, a disaster that may affect a section of the population really does affect everyone in some indirect way. Our plans similarly should acknowledge this connection and pull from broad coalitions to achieve recovery. You may have included businesses, non-profits, and faith-based organizations in your planning, but have you considered the local PTA or Neighborhood Watch organizations as potential partners? 

In my experience, people go above-and-beyond for mankind until they have nothing left. Adrenaline is what keeps us moving through and pushing toward the light at the end of the tunnel, but we need our support groups to keep us on task whether they are affected first hand or not. Where are we planted? Where are our personal anchoring roots? Are they in our circles with family, friends, neighbors and others. It’s hard to develop connections to emotionally lean on during a disaster.  These relationships have proven to be therapeutic for those at the front lines of a disaster and they prove to be the stability most need to keep going.  

Be as open as possible. One of the biggest drivers of fear and panic in a disaster is uncertainty and a lack of information. People feel powerless but just knowing the extent of the current situation can help alleviate some of their anxiety. However, a disaster is not the time to build a strong communication network. A notice on the peg board at the city hall is not enough in a crisis. Communication should be continually developed as a matter of ongoing public engagement with mediums ranging from reader boards, Facebook, email, phone, and text trees to reverse 911 and neighborhood liaisons in place before the rain falls or the fire starts. I suggest having a public information officer assigned, even if they aren’t needed regularly, as someone who can readily activate these various communication mediums and who can help coordinate and respond to news media. Be as open and forthcoming as you can be, but avoid propagating rumors or unsubstantiated claims. 

Provide for mourning, but facilitate change. In any disaster, there is loss. Acknowledge a process of grieving must take place. Wherever people have emotional connections to a place, you can expect that grief to manifest in the actions of people. Whether it’s providing a space for recording memories of the destroyed old theatre or a facilitated meeting at the library to discuss how to incorporate the old into the rebuilding process, provide mechanisms for the public to mourn. 

Change is hard but a repeat of an event to the same level is not a consideration.  Creating consensus will be difficult but education is the key.  Don’t force ideas and mandates on the community, find a way to get their buy in, engage them in the process and help them feel like they are making a difference.  They will become your biggest advocates down this long road of recovery.  

Although a bit callous to say, some of the best times to make positive change to prevent the next crisis is immediately after the current one. The pain and damage is fresh in people’s minds; they are open to change they wouldn’t have considered before the crisis. Even though some policy recommendations like urban-wildland buffers aren’t possibly supported before a disaster, once the forest fire comes, public opinion can change quickly. It’s helpful to have policy recommendations in place for when those opportunities arise. 

Keep pushing forward. The hard stuff is not going to go away.  When we see hardship, we see heaviness as we look around attempting to reconnect the vision we once had. It starts to unfold and the stress of the situation will increase before it gets better.  Finding solitude or support in this hard time is key to keeping the focus.  Don’t take the easy road, it often doesn’t provide the willingness to continue the journey.  It doesn’t provide the feelings of accomplishments or of being proud.  The hard road makes us who we are and how we provide benefit to our world.  

I hope you’ve found these ideas to be seeds you’d like to plant. You too can be a seed for your community to help it grow. I invite you to consider bringing your talents forward to be the good seeds your community needs. Your efforts will not go unnoticed and hopefully they grow and spread among others to do the same.

Donna Bye served as City Planner for the City of Minot, ND, for over 15 years before joining Houston Engineering, Inc. in 2017 in her current role as a planner. Her past work in disaster relief and community planning resulted in funding and grant awards totaling in millions of dollars. Donna also held a unique role with the City of Minot, as she was the first individual to hold the title of Chief Resilience Officer, helping entities better understand how their actions affected their communities. She was part of the efforts that won the city $74.3 million dollars in the National Disaster Resilience competition. Her degrees in landscape architecture and environmental design provide her with a unique perspective on community and garden projects. She currently holds seats on the International Peace Garden Board, the North Dakota Planners Association, and the Western Planner Board, as well as the State of North Dakota’s Beneficial Use Recycling Group. She is married to her high school sweetheart, has two children and one dog, and enjoys, biking, golfing, snowshoeing and gardening.