Language
This glossary is sorted alphabetically for Hazard Mitigation terms and acronyms.
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A flood that has a 0.2 percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year; often referred to as 500-year flood.
A flood that has a 1 percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year; often referred to as 100-year flood.
The area flooded that has a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in a given year.
The area flooded that has a 0.2-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in a given year.
Assembly Bill - Introduced in the Assembly** Numbered sequentially (Bill = Proposal to change, repeal, or add to existing state law) D7
Americans with Disabilities Act, a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.
Any man-made or natural feature that has value.
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Grant
The elevation of surface water resulting from a flood that has a 1% chance of equaling or exceeding that level in any given year
California Code of Regulations
Community Development Block Grant (Disaster Recovery Grants)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Code of Federal Regulations - an annual codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
Voluntary program that encourages community floodplain management beyond the NFIP minimum requirements. Flood insurance premiums are discounted in CRS communities.
Clean Water Act
An analysis of a community’s capacity to address threats associated with hazards. The assessment includes two components: (1.) An inventory of an agency’s mission, programs, and policies, and an (2.) Analysis of its capacity to carry them out.
Voluntary program that encourages community floodplain management beyond the NFIP minimum requirements. Flood insurance premiums are discounted in CRS communities.
A systematic, quantitative method of comparing projected benefits to projected costs of a project or policy. It is used as a measure of cost effectiveness.
Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map a flood insurance map developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for use with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology.
A barrier constructed to hold back water and raise its level, forming a reservoir used to generate electricity or as a water supply.
The area of flood waters after a dam failure event.
The latest federal legislation enacted to encourage and promote proactive, pre-disaster planning as a condition of receiving certain federal financial assistance.
Remarkably long periods of dry weather departing from the region's normal.
Endangered Species Act, provides a framework to conserve and protect endangered and threatened species and their habitats both domestically and abroad.
Ground shaking caused by a sudden slip on a fault. Stresses in the earth's outer layer push the sides of the fault together. Stress builds up and the rocks slip suddenly, releasing energy in waves that travel through the earth's crust and cause the shaking that we feel during an earthquake.
Document that identifies potential emergency conditions and details actions to be followed to minimize loss of life and property damage.
The point on the earth?s surface directly above an earthquake. The location of an earthquake is described by its epicenter and its focal depth.
A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.
Exposure is defined as the number and dollar value of assets and population considered to be at risk to a specific hazard.
May be considered any temperature below freezing (32⁰ F / 0.0⁰ C ). During an extreme cold event, your body must work extra hard to regulate a normal body temperature and that could lead to illness or death, especially with vulnerable populations.
Extreme heat is a period of high heat and humidity with temperatures above (90 F⁰/32.2 C⁰) for at least two to three days.
Federal Emergency Management Agency supports citizens and emergency personnel to build, sustain, and improve the nation's capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map is an official map of a community on which FEMA has delineated the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs), the Base Flood Elevations (BFEs) and the risk premium zones applicable to the community.
Flood Mitigation Assistance is a competitive grant program that provides funding to states, local communities, federally recognized tribes and territories. Funds can be used for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program
Fracture or zone of fractures between two sections of rock.
Declarations for disasters that cause more damage than state and local governments and resources can handle without federal government assistance. Puts into action federal recovery programs and assistance.
A sudden local flood, typically due to heavy rain.
The inundation of normally dry land resulting from the rising and overflowing of a river, stream, or other body of water.
Any method or combination of methods used to control flooding. Includes structures like levees, dams, culverts, ditches, artificial canals and others.
Map that the Federal Emergency Management Agency uses to delineate the Special Flood Hazard Area.
Study of flood risk for specific waterways, water bodies, and coastal areas. Completed for the NFIP and assembled into a report with flood elevation data and profiles.
Comprised of floodway (channel) and flood fringe (overbank).
Regulatory area that includes the channel of a river or stream and adjacent land where base flood discharge does not increase the water elevation by more than a specified height. Generally speaking no construction can take place in the floodway, nor can the floodway be modified artificially in a way that increases water elevation.
An additional amount of height above the Base Flood Elevation used as a factor of safety (e.g., 2 feet above the Base Flood) in determining the level at which a structure's lowest floor must be elevated or floodproofed to be in accordance with state or community floodplain management regulations.
Geographic Information System
A system that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data
What is set as an achievable end. Typically these are generalized policy statements that represent visions within the hazard mitigation planning effort. Plan success is measured by the completion of goals.
The result of rapid ground acceleration caused by seismic waves passing beneath buildings, roads, and other structures.
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
A source of danger or adverse condition that could harm assets and populations.
FEMA program that provides funding to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments for hazard mitigation. Open after a presidentially declared disaster.
A substance with properties that make it potentially dangerous or harmful to human health or the environment
A GIS- based program used to support the development of risk assessments, DMA required. Hazus is used to quantitatively model losses due to specific hazard scenarios in relation to assets.
International Building Code
The measure of the effects of a hazard.
The movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope.
A phenomenon where saturated sand and silt take on the characteristics of a liquid during the intense shaking of an earthquake.
Any county, municipality, city, town, township, school district, public authority, intrastate district, special district, council of governments. Any Indian tribe or authorized tribal organization, rural community, unincorporated town or village, or other public entity.
Reference to the Modified Mercalli Intensity value which is more meaningful to a broad audience than other magnitude types and describes the intensity of an earthquake and the effects experienced.
Actions taken hat lessen the impact of disasters to life and property
Goals set during the Hazard Mitigation planning process for lessening the impacts of natural hazard occurrence within the planning area.
National Centers for Environmental Information
National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program
National Flood Insurance Program
National Incident Management System
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Weather Service
Peak Ground Acceleration
A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease over a whole country or the world at a particular time.
The maximum ground acceleration that occurred during and earthquake at a specific location.
Actions that strengthen the capability of government, people and communities to respond to disasters.
A fault that has been recognized at the ground surface and has moved in the past 1.6 million years.
Risk Assessment Mapping Platform - a Dynamic Planning + Science product that enables users to interactively explore their natural hazard exposure on an online mapping platform.
The recurrence interval (sometimes called the return period) is based on the probability that the given event will be equaled or exceeded in any given year.
The average number of years between occurrences of a hazard.
The area along the banks of a natural watercourse.
The process of measuring potential risk to human life and properties (assets). This is typically done both quantitatively utilizing tools in a GIS and also qualitatively through the planning narrative.
Of or produced by a river. Riverine floodplains have readily identifiable channels.
Special Flood Hazard Area
Base floodplain delineated on a Flood Insurance Rate Map.
Statutory authority for most federal disaster response activities. 1988
Members of the community and participants of the planning process who represent organizations, governments, businesses, interests, communities or other facets of the planning area that are affected by hazard mitigation planning.
the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.
US Department of Agriculture
US Geological Survey
The measure of sensitivity a specific population or asset has to a given hazard or set of hazards. Vulnerable populations might include those with disabilities making it difficult to travel or those who are financially limited in a way that might impact evacuation, mitigation, etc.
Land area that channels precipitation into the bodies of water found within it's topological boundaries. Defined geographically by the USGS as "Hydrologic Unit Codes".
An uncontrolled fire that burns over wildland vegetation.
An area susceptible to wildfires and where wildland vegetation and urban or suburban development converge.
Defines allowable land use for a local jurisdiction.
Part per million