NHMA

NHMA Publications

Featured Publications:

Building Your Roadmap to a Disaster Resilient Future (2017)

Building Your Roadmap to a Disaster Resilient Future helps vital community stakeholders navigate through the varied and at times bewildering array of pre- and post- disaster resources and programs available to reduce the impact of natural, technological, and human made events on the human built environment.  This document offers quick and effective access to resources, programs, and ways of building agreement on pursuit of resilience, following the “whole community” approach.

It is based on a concept Edward A. Thomas Esq. developed in in Iowa as Federal Coordinating Officer, following the Great Midwest Floods of 1993.   With FEMA, the basic guidebook began in 1994, and subsequent editions titled Planning and Building Livable, Safe & Sustainable Communities, The Patchwork Quilt Approach, and more commonly referred to as the Patchwork Quilt, were published by the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, and persistently updated by the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association.

The Roadmap builds on successor to the Patchwork Quilt, produced by NHMA in 2015:  The Living Mosaic: A Path Forward, written to help engage and inform community members, in constructive assessment and response.  Both the Mosaic and the Patchwork Quilt can be found on the NHMA website. The Roadmap is a new work, supported by FEMA for professional production assistance and bringing huge volunteer expertise, directed at getting past the problems of how to begin and where to start – it is part Roadmap and part Guidebook.

http://nhma.info/building-your-roadmap-to-a-disaster-resilient-future/

Planning and Building Livable, Safe & Sustainable Communities
The Patchwork Quilt Approach
Nationwide, we are finding that often communities and their residents determine that it makes sense to build, and rebuild, safely and wisely. Wherever people are subject to repeated, devastating visits from the natural processes of our planet: from Aroostook County in Maine, to the Gulf Coast, to communities on the Mississippi, Missouri, and Platte Rivers people are clamoring to find ways to safely reconstruct their homes and businesses, or even relocate away from the natural hazards in their locations. Accomplishing this objective is not simple. No single agency or program exists that effectively addresses all the diverse needs in areas impacted by repeated floods and other natural disasters. But by Nania, that is all of us working all together, creative strategies can be crafted for individuals and communities and, thus, turn vision into reality. 

• Examples of Community Collaboration for Disaster Resilience:   NHMA Fact Sheets about Nonstructural Hazard Mitigation Best Practices
• National Flood Insurance Program: Ed Thomas, and David Conrad explore how the National Flood Insurance Program and other federal disaster relief programs could be reformed to better align the costs and benefits of living in disaster-prone areas and help put the budget on more sound footing in a policy proposal which is part of  The Hamilton Project’s 15 Ways to Rethink the Federal Budget.
• NHMA: A Framework for Hazard Mitigation:  Hazard mitigation has multiple definitions and can include a wide range of activities, depending on differing perspectives and hazards. Read NHMA’s position statement.
• NHMA: How to Improve Local Hazard Mitigation Planning: The objective of this white paper was to document common challenges and to make several key recommendations for improving local hazard mitigation planning nationwide. It was prepared by NHMA’s Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee and is based on the contributions of many individuals who participated in monthly committee meetings and other discussions throughout 2012.
• NHMA: Mission Goals and Objectives:  The mission of NHMA is to bring together individuals and organizations working in the field of hazard mitigation. Read about the 5 year Strategic Goals.
• Safe Rooms Save Lives:  Flyer: Dangers of Extreme Windstorms – Resources – Financing – Safe Room Resources
• Safe Rooms: Policy Statement – Adopted February 2012 – NHMA
• Questions and Answers on the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association