VPC was invited to present at the Maryland Association of Floodplain and Stormwater Managers (MASFM) Conference at the Maritime Institute near Baltimore, MD, on November 8th to discuss their case studies on Disaster Planning for Historic Properties. VPC’s Hazard Mitigation Planner, Andrew Estrain, presented case studies, in five different counties across Maryland and Pennsylvania. Mr. Estrain discussed various tools and processes that can be used to incorporate special considerations for historic properties and cultural resources into the overall hazard mitigation planning process, and be integrated into local Hazard Mitigation Plans.
Jalisa Tate, MD SHMO and Andrew Estrain, VPC
In addition to the processes, a discussion of what constitutes a “historic property” as well as sample mitigation actions for select representative properties, was provided. Mr. Estrain emphasized the collaboration and engagement that is vital to develop a strategy that effectively protects and preserve the resources. He emphasized that “context-sensitive” hazard mitigation action development requires collaboration between historic preservation professions, architectural historians, as well as with hazard mitigation professionals, in order to develop a strategy that will effectively protect the people and property from hazard impacts, and also preserve the associated historic fabric and/or theme of the resource.
Andrew Estrain, VPC presenting at the 2018 MAFSM Conference
This 2018 conference featured over 30 technical presentations. Other presentations included “What’s New in Mitigation Planning” which discussed the latest information from FEMA that affects state, tribal and local mitigation planning, and the latest integration efforts between FEMA’s Mitigation Planning Program and the NFIP Community Rating System. Another presentation, “Sizing up Floods from Space” was particularly interesting as it discussed how the constellation of satellites and airborne assets contribute to enhanced disaster management networks and toolkits for first responders and decision makers.
Other presentations focused on issues such as developing Emergency Operations Plans, two-dimensional modeling, and data management.
