Okaloosa County Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) 2005 Plan

Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) 2005 Plan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section One

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Okaloosa County is threatened by a number of different types of natural hazards. These hazards endanger the health and safety of the population of the county, jeopardize its economic vitality, and imperil the quality of its environment.   Because of the importance of avoiding or minimizing the vulnerabilities to these hazards, the public and private sector interests of Okaloosa County have joined together to create a Local Mitigation Strategy Committee to undertake a comprehensive planning process that has culminated in the publication of this document: “The Okaloosa County Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Plan.”

The following jurisdictions are represented in the Okaloosa County LMS:

Okaloosa County Unincorporated

• The Town of Cinco Bayou
• The Town of Crestview
• The City of Destin
• The City of Ft. Walton Beach
• The town of Laurel Hill
• The Town of Mary Esther
• The Town of Niceville
• The Town of Shalimar
• The Town of Valparaiso

This Committee, entitled the Okaloosa County LMS Committee, has conducted detailed studies to identify the hazards threatening the jurisdictions of Okaloosa County and to estimate the relative risks posed to the community by those hazards.  This information has been used by the Committee to assess the vulnerabilities of the facilities and neighborhoods of Okaloosa County to the impacts of future disasters involving those hazards.  With these identified, the committee has worked to identify proposed projects and programs that will avoid or minimize these vulnerabilities to make the communities of Okaloosa County much more resistant to the impacts of future disasters.  

These projects and programs to reduce the impacts of future disasters are called “mitigation strategies” in this document. Mitigation strategies have been developed and will continue to be developed by the Committee for implementation whenever the resources to do so become available.  As the mitigation initiatives identified in this plan are implemented, step-by-step, Okaloosa County will become a more “disaster resistant” community.

This document details the work of the Okaloosa County LMS Committee over the past several months to develop the planning organization, to undertake the needed technical analyses, and to coordinate the mitigation initiatives that have been proposed by the participating jurisdictions and organizations.  Through publication of this local mitigation plan, the committee continues to solicit the involvement of the entire community to make the people, neighborhoods, businesses and institutions of Okaloosa County safer from the impacts of future disasters.

Section Two

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE

Introduction

The Okaloosa County LMS Committee has been established to make the population, neighborhoods, businesses and institutions of the community more resistant to the impacts of future disasters. The Committee has been undertaking a comprehensive, detailed evaluation of the vulnerabilities of the community to all types of future natural hazards in order to identify ways to make the county more resistant to their impacts. This document reports the results of that planning process for the current planning period, as indicated in the attached table.

Purpose

The Okaloosa County LMS Plan is intended by the Committee to serve many purposes. These include the following:

Provide a Methodical, Substantive Approach to Mitigation Planning

The approach utilized by the Okaloosa County LMS Committee relies on a step-wise application of soundly based planning concepts in a methodical process to identify vulnerabilities to future disasters and to propose the mitigation initiatives necessary to avoid or minimize those vulnerabilities. Each step in the planning process builds upon the previous, so that there is a high level of assurance that the mitigation initiatives proposed by the participants has a valid basis for both their justification and priority for implementation. One key purpose of this plan is to document that process and to present its results to the community.

Enhance Public Awareness and Understanding

The LMS Committee is interested in finding ways to make the community as a whole more aware of the natural, technological and societal hazard that threaten the public health and safety, the economic vitality of businesses, and the operational capability of important institutions. The plan identifies the hazards threatening Okaloosa County and provides an assessment of the relative level of risk they pose. It also details the specific vulnerabilities of the neighborhoods of Okaloosa County and many of the facilities that are important to the community’s daily life. The plan also includes a number of proposals of ways to avoid or minimize those vulnerabilities. This information will be very helpful to individuals that wish to understand how the community could become safer from the impacts of future disasters.

The LMS Committee organization responsibility also includes disseminating meeting information to the Public as well as educating the public in ways to be more protected from the impacts of future disasters. The public information committee has been active in communicating with the public and engaging interested members of the community in the planning process. This document, and the analyses contained herein, is the principal information resource for this activity.

Create a Decision Tool for Management

The Okaloosa County LMS Plan provides information needed by the managers and leaders of local government, business and industry, community associations and other key institutions and organizations to take actions to address vulnerabilities to future disasters. It also provides proposals for specific projects and programs that are needed to eliminate or minimize those vulnerabilities.

These proposals, called “mitigation strategies” in the plan, have been justified on the basis of their economic benefits using a uniform technical analysis, as well as prioritized for implementation using ten objective criteria. This approach is intended to provide a decision tool for the management of participating organizations and agencies regarding why the proposed mitigation initiatives should be implemented, which should be implemented first, and the economic and public welfare benefits of doing so.

Promote Compliance with State and Federal Program Requirements

There are a number of state and federal grant programs, policies, and regulations that encourage or even mandate local government to develop and maintain a comprehensive hazard mitigation plan. This plan is specifically intended to assist the participating local governments to comply with these requirements, and to enable them to more fully and quickly respond to state and federal funding opportunities for mitigation-related projects. Because the plan defines, justifies and prioritizes mitigation initiatives that have been formulated through a technically valid hazard analysis and vulnerability assessment process, the participating organizations are better prepared to more quickly and easily develop the necessary grant application materials for seeking state and federal funding.

Enhance Local Policies for Hazard Mitigation Capability

A component of the hazard mitigation planning process conducted by the Okaloosa County LMS Committee is the analysis of the existing policy, program and regulatory basis for control of growth and development. This process involves cataloging the current mitigation-related policies of local government so that they can be compared the hazards that threaten the jurisdiction and the relative risks they pose to the community. When the risks posed to the community by a specific hazard are not adequately addressed in the community’s policy or regulatory framework, the impacts of future disasters can be even more severe. The planning process utilized by the Committee supports detailed comparison of the community’s policy controls to the level of risk posed by specific hazards.

This comparison supports and justifies efforts to propose enhancements in the policy basis for could or should be promulgated by the involved local jurisdictions to create a more disaster-resistant future for the community.

Assure Inter-Jurisdictional Coordination of Mitigation-Related Programming

A key purpose of the planning process utilized by the Okaloosa County LMS Committee is to ensure that proposals for mitigation initiatives are reviewed and coordinated among the participating jurisdictions within the County. In this way, there is a high level of confidence that mitigation initiatives proposed by one jurisdiction or participating organization, when implemented, will be compatible with the interests of adjacent jurisdictions and unlikely to duplicate or interfere with mitigation initiatives proposed by others. The operating procedures of the Committee mandate that all proposed mitigation initiatives, regardless of their origin, will be coordinated among all of the participants in the planning prior to their approval for incorporation into the plan.

Provide a Flexible Approach to the Planning Process

The planning process used by the Okaloosa County LMS Committee is very flexible in meeting the analysis and documentation needs of the planning process. The planning program utilized provides for the creation of this document, as well as the preparation of numerous other reports regarding the technical analyses undertaken. In this way, the plan assists the Committee with utilizing a full range of information in the technical analysis and the formulation of proposed mitigation initiatives for incorporation into this plan.

The following sections of the Okaloosa County LMS Plan present the detailed information to support these purposes. The remainder of the plan describes the planning organization developed by the Committee, as well as its approach to managing the planning process. It then summarizes the results of the hazard identification and vulnerability assessment process, and addresses the current policy basis for hazard management by the participating jurisdictions and organizations. The plan also documents the structural and non-structural mitigation initiatives proposed by the participating jurisdiction to address the identified vulnerabilities. The plan concludes by addressing the goals and objectives of the Committee for the next planning period, during which this plan will continue to be expanded and refined.

Section Three

BYLAWS AND OPERATING PROCEDURES

ARTICLE I.                 PURPOSES OF THE WORKING GROUP

The purpose of the Okaloosa County Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Committee is to plan for a decrease in the vulnerability of the citizens, governments, businesses and institutions of Okaloosa County to the future human, economic and environmental costs of natural, technological, and societal disasters. The Working Group will develop, monitor, implement, and maintain a comprehensive multi-jurisdictional plan for hazard mitigation that will be intended to accomplish this purpose and to promote a sustainable and disaster-resistant community.

ARTICLE II.                 MEMBERSHIP

Membership in the Working Group is open to all jurisdictions, organizations and individuals supporting its purposes.  Membership is accomplished through the completion of a Member Information Form.  The Member Information Form should be submitted to the Chair of the Working Group for a signature of acknowledgement.  The Chair shall submit all Member Information Forms to the LMS Planner for processing into the Working Group Membership Database. LMS Committee alternate members shall also be required to submit a Member Information Form.

ARTICLE III.               ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The organizational structure of the Working Group shall consist of three permanent components:  a LMS/LMS Committee, a Citizens Committee, and a LMS planner.  Both the Technical and Citizen Committee’s shall select members to act as Chairperson and Vice-chairperson. The Chairperson of the LMS Committee will also act as the Chairperson of the Working Group.Subcommittees of the Technical and Citizens Committees may be formed as deemed necessary by the Working Group.

A.        The LMS Committee

The Working Group shall be guided by a decision-making and voting body called the LMS Committee. The make-up of the LMS Committee shall be well conceived and well balanced with representatives from the following:

• Other individuals and their designated volunteer alternates as deemed appropriate by the LMS Committee to ensure well-balanced representation on the Steering Committee.

Ideally, LMS Committee members should have responsibility for implementing proposed mitigation initiatives when resources to do so become available.

The LMS Committee shall formulate recommendations to the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners and the participating municipalities. Each member of the LMS Committee shall have one vote on formal motions made by the LMS Working Group.

The LMS Committee will provide a formal and stable core to the Working Group.  LMS Committee members will serve as the official representative and spokesperson for the organization regarding the activities and decisions of the LMS Working Group.  The roles and responsibilities of the LMS Committee members are described in Article V.

To maintain good standing, members of the LMS Committee must not have more than three unexcused absences from meetings during the course of a year.

Excused Absence Defined:  An absence may be excused if the member’s alternate attends in his/her place.  If the member’s alternate cannot attend in the member’s place, the Chairperson may excuse the member’s absence if the member notifies the Chairperson prior to the meeting that family sickness or death or other unavoidable and critical work or family conflict will not permit attendance at the specified meeting.

Criteria for Member Alternates:  Each member of the LMS Committee may designate one alternate to assist them in fulfilling their roles and responsibilities on the LMS Committee and the Working Group as a whole.  The alternate member may have one vote only when the primary member is absent.  To maintain a well-balanced membership, the designated alternate should represent the same entity as the primary member.  Alternate members of individual citizens shall also be individual citizens and not represent any other entity.  A LMS Committee member cannot serve as an alternate member for another member.

Based on long-standing LMS Committee status prior to the establishment of these Bylaws, representatives from the following departments/organizations will serve as members of the initial LMS Committee under these Bylaws.  Additional LMS Committee members will be added to the Working Group as the group grows in membership and as representation is needed to maintain a well-conceived and well-balanced LMS Committee.

The Citizens Committee

The Citizens Committee component of the LMS Working Group shall have Planning and Public Information roles and responsibilities.  Membership in and/or participation on the LMS Citizens Committee are open to all interested jurisdictions, organizations and individuals.

Membership of the Citizens Committee shall include voluntary representatives from voluntary participating organizations and associations representing interested private organizations, civic organizations, trade and commercial support groups, property owners associations, Native American Tribes or authorized tribal organizations, water management districts, regional planning councils, independent special districts and non-profit organizations.  

The Citizens Committee may, as an option, form two sub-committees to more equitably distribute the planning and public information roles and responsibilities described in Article V.

C.        Planning Support Staff 

The Okaloosa County Growth Management Department or other agency as so designated by the Board of County Commissioners, will serve as the LMS Program’s planning support staff for the Working Group, and assist in the facilitation, coordination and support of the Working Group activities. Roles and responsibilities of the LMS planning support staff are described in Article V.

ARTICLE IV.               WORKING GROUP OFFICERS

Any member in good standing of the LMS Committee is eligible for election as an officer. The LMS Working Group will have a chair, vice-chair and a secretary.  The chair and vice-chair shall be elected by a majority vote of a quorum of the LMS Committee members.  Each officer will serve a term of one year, and be eligible for re-election for an unlimited number of terms.

The chair of the Working Group will preside at each meeting of the Working Group as well as establish temporary subcommittees and assign personnel to them. The vice chair will fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the chair in his or her absence.  The secretary will assist in the important task of meeting documentation by taking meeting notes at each Working Group meeting.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Working Group Officers will include, but shall not be limited to:

The Working Group Chair shall:

• Conduct the Working Group Meetings as outlined in the agenda and according to Robert’s Rules of Order when necessary.
• Assist the LMS planning support staff in setting meeting agendas.
• Pre-approve meeting minutes prior to distribution to the Work Group and others.
• Maintain a Working Group file of all documentation (letters, plans, state and federal handouts/documents, etc.) received while in office and transfer the file to the next elected chairperson.
• Establish formation of temporary sub-committees and assign members to serve
• Distribute minutes, meeting notices, and general Working Group outreach
• Oversee the Planning Component of the Working Group Roles and Responsibilities

The Working Group Vice-Chair shall:Fulfill the roles and responsibilities of the chairperson in his/her absence.Oversee the Public Information component of the Working Group Roles and Responsibilities

ARTICLE V.                RESPONSIBILITIES 

A.        LMS Committee

The LMS Committee will be responsible for oversight and coordination of all actions and decisions by the Working Group, and is solely responsible for formal actions in the name of the Working Group, including the release of reports, development of resolutions, issuance of position papers, and similar activities.  The LMS Committee makes task assignments to the Citizens Committee, coordinates their work, and takes action on their recommendations.

Other roles and responsibilities may include but not be limited to:

• Approve the mitigation initiatives for incorporation into the plan, the priority of those initiatives, and the removal or termination of initiatives.
• Set guidelines for the total mitigation planning effort.
• Serve as the official body to represent the overall planning process.
• Serve as the official liaison of the Working Group to the community.

Presents the plan to communities and the local elected bodies.

B.        Citizens Committee

The Citizens Committee shall have two categories of responsibilities—planning and public information.  These responsibilities are described below:

Planning – The Planning responsibilities include undertaking and coordinating the actual technical analysis and planning activities fundamental to the development of an LMS plan.  Activities will include identifying, analyzing, and monitoring the hazards threatening Okaloosa County and the vulnerabilities of the community to those hazards, as well as assisting in the definition of actions, policies, or programs to mitigate the impacts of those hazards; defining structural and non-structural actions needed to decrease the human, economic and environmental impacts of disasters, and preparing for consideration and action by the LMS Committee a strategy for implementation of those initiatives in both the pre- and post-disaster time frame; defining the general financial vulnerability of the community to the impacts of disasters; assisting with identification, characterization, and prioritization of initiatives to minimize vulnerabilities; and identifying potential funding sources for all priority mitigation initiatives identified in the mitigation strategy developed by the Working Group.  In addition, planning responsibilities include assessing the communities’ policies, regulations, and programs and making subsequent recommendations to enhance or strengthen the mitigation components of those planning documents (known as capabilities assessment).  Planning responsibilities shall include any other planning activity required by CFR 44 Part 201, 9G-22 FAC or any other federal and state mitigation requirements.

Public Information – Public Information responsibilities include those specified in CFR 44 Part 201, FEMA Region IV Minimum Standards of Responsibilities, 9G-22 FAC or any other federal and state mitigation requirements.  These responsibilities include, but are not limited to securing public input and comment on the efforts of the Working Group; informing the public about the activities of the Working Group; conducting public information and education programs regarding hazard mitigation and informing the community about the vulnerability to future disasters and effective hazard mitigation actions; conducting surveys to gather information on community needs and attitudes; assisting with the conduct of public meetings; providing a venue to receive comments from the public who cannot attend pubic meetings, and preparing the community for issuance of the LMS plan and promoting public acceptance of the strategy developed by the Working Group. 

Temporary Subcommittees - The responsibilities of temporary subcommittees will be defined at the time they are established by the chairperson of the committee appointing the subcommittee.

C.        LMS Planning Support Staff and Monitor, Evaluation and Update Procedures

The general and primary responsibility of the LMS planning support staff is to coordinate and facilitate the Working Group’s development of the initial DMA2K Section 322 hazard mitigation plan and the subsequent continual maintenance, monitoring, evaluation, and update of the plan on an annual and five-year planning schedule as required by 9G-22 FAC, FEMA criteria in CFR 44 Part 201, and FEMA Region IV Minimum Standards of Acceptability (and any other subsequent State and Federal requirements).  The Working Group will meet on an annual basis to review and evaluate the plan.  The criteria used to evaluate the plan will include, but is not limited to the following:

1. Review any changes that may have been made to other planning mechanisms to determine if changes are needed to the LMS.
2. Discuss any recent disaster events and how they may change the mitigation efforts undertaken by the county and jurisdictions. 

Roles and responsibilities that support the general and primary responsibility stated above include, but are not limited to, the following:

ARTICLE VI.               AUTHORIZED COUNTY POINT OF CONTACT

The Growth Management Director shall be the Working Group’s designated county point of contact, which is empowered by the County Board of County Commissioners to accept and disburse funds, enter into contracts, hire staff, and take such other actions as necessary in support of, or for the benefit of, the Working Group.

ARTICLE VII.              ACTIONS BY THE WORKING GROUP

A.        Authority for Actions

Only the LMS Committee has the authority to take final actions in the name of the Working Group.  Actions by the Citizens Committee and its subcommittees or LMS planning support staff are not considered as final until affirmed by action of the LMS Committee.

B.        Meetings, Voting and Quorum

Meetings of the Working Group will be conducted in accord with Robert's Rules of Order, if and when deemed necessary by chair of the meeting.

Regular meetings of the full Working Group will be scheduled at least quarterly with a minimum of 7 days’ notice.  The different component groups of the Working Group may conduct additional and separate meetings as needed to complete tasks.

All final actions and decisions made in the name of the Working Group will be by affirmative vote of a quorum of the LMS Committee.  A quorum shall 50 percent of the members of the LMS Committee in good standing at the time of the vote. Each member of the LMS Committee will have one vote.  (See voting requirements for alternates in Article III, A)  Voting by proxy, written or otherwise, is not permitted.

C.        Public Meetings

When required by statute or the policies of Okaloosa County, or when deemed necessary by the LMS Committee, a public meeting regarding actions under consideration for implementation by the Working Group will be held.

The county sought participation from the public during the drafting stages and prior to plan approval on many different occasions.  The Monthly meetings of the LMS committee were held in the City of Niceville Community meeting facility.  A schedule of the meetings in that facility was posted in the Niceville offices, which manages the facility.  The facility is centrally located in the southern portion of the county and co-located with a regional library and Niceville City Hall.  Many citizens who attend regional events on site as well as visit the public library frequent this facility.  These schedules were posted in this location as a means to solicit public participation from local citizens.  A copy of the posted public notices can be found in Section 8.6. 

Furthermore, in addition to the these committee meetings, the Okaloosa County LMS was placed on the agenda and presented to the Board of County Commissioners on two separate occasions.   These meetings were held on July 20th, 2004, and August 3rd, 2004.  Both of these meetings were advertised in the local newspaper, on the radio and on the Okaloosa County website.  A copy of the agendas from both of these meetings can be found in Section 8.10 of this document.

In an effort to solicit additional public participation, Pat Blackshear, the LMS Committee Chair sent out a letter to community stakeholders as an invitation to take part and participate in the LMS Committee meetings.  A copy of this letter can be found in Section 8.6. 

D.        Documentation of Actions

All meetings and other forms of action by the Working Group will be documented and made available for inspection by the public at one or more of the following county locations:  the County’s website and/or link to consultant’s website, and/or the County Clerk’s office or other central location.  Documentation may include minutes, handouts, and sign-in sheets.  In addition, the LMS planning support staff will maintain public review documentation.

ARTICLE VIII.             ADOPTION HAVE AND AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS

The Bylaws of the Working Group may be adopted and/or amended by a two-thirds majority vote of the members in good standing of the LMS Committee. All proposed changes to the bylaws will be provided to each member of the LMS Committee not less than ten days prior to such a vote.  Voting can be accomplished at a regularly scheduled meeting, a special meeting, or via electronically utilizing email or fax so that a written confirmation of the vote can be generated.

ARTICLE IX.               DISSOLUTION OF THE COMMITTEE 

The Working Group may be dissolved by affirmative vote of 100% of the members in good standing of the LMS Committee at the time of the vote, by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, and/or by instruction of the Okaloosa County governing body. Voting can be accomplished at a regularly scheduled meeting, a special meeting, or via electronically utilizing email or fax so that a written confirmation of the vote can be generated.  At the time of dissolution, all remaining documents, records, equipment and supplies belonging to the Working Group will be transferred to the Okaloosa County position specified as the Working Group’s Point of Authority in Article VI for disposition. 

Section Four

Hazards Assessment

4.1 Introduction

This section of the Okaloosa County Local LMS Plan summarizes the results of a vulnerability assessment process undertaken by the LMS Committee members. The intent of this section is to provide a compilation of the information regarding the hazards threatening Okaloosa County as a whole. In this section, information relevant to the entire planning area is compiled and an overview of the analyses is provided as required by DMA2K requirements.

The hazards that will be analyzed in this section are natural and concentrate on the affects of man in those events as well as the effects of those events on mankind.   However, DMA2K does not require an assessment of technological and/or societal hazards and therefore shall not be covered under this plan or in the analysis of this section.

In addition, primary attention is given to hazards (with sub-sections) considered reasonably possible to occur in the County. These hazards include:

• Storm Surge
• Flooding
• General Flooding
• Dam Safety
• Land Erosion
• Sinkholes
• Expansive Soils
• Severe Storms
• Tornado & Waterspout
• Thunderstorms and Lightning
• Winter Storms
• Heat Wave and Drought
• Wildfire

The hazards that are considered unlikely or impossible in the County will be briefly analyzed and commented on will be included. These hazards include:Earthquake Avalanche  Land Subsidence Landslide Tsunami Volcano

4.1a Growth and Development Trends for Okaloosa County

When analyzing hazards faced by a community it is important to discuss the growth and development trends of the community in order to determine whether or not the community is developing in such a way as to minimize the impacts to future developments and protect future populations.  Okaloosa County has experienced significant population growth in recent years, a trend that is expected to continue.  This is perhaps largely due to its location along the Gulf of Mexico and the desirable coastal areas.  The county experienced a population increase of 18.6% between the years 1990-2000 (U.S. Census, 2000).  The county’s population growth is forecast to continue steadily and is projected to reach an estimated 257,600 by the year 2030 increasing the average population density of 198 to 282 persons per square mile (Bureau of Economic and Business Research, 2004).                                                             

Both the Existing and Future Land Use Maps (ELUM and FLUM) have been included for Okaloosa County in Section 8.11 of this document.  These maps were obtained from the Florida Department of Community Affairs, Division of Community Planning.  As seen on both maps, Eglin Air Force Base encompasses a large portion of the land within county with other major land uses including: Parks, Agriculture and Residential.  If Eglin Air Force base, or any of the surrounding military bases expand their operations a boost in residential developments within all jurisdictions located in Okaloosa County as well as surrounding areas could be anticipated in order to accommodate the military personnel.  According to the FLUM for the county, much of the land is designated as low density residential with a mix of rural residential, agriculture and parks in the other unincorporated areas.  While the City of Destin, City of Ft. Walton Beach and City of Crestview have moderately large population concentrations, most of the county’s population (59.7%) resides within the unincorporated areas of the county.

4.1b Vulnerability of Future Development for Okaloosa County

In order to determine the vulnerability of future buildings, infrastructure and critical facilities the hazard vulnerability analysis zones were overlaid onto the Okaloosa County Future Land Use Map.  This information was taken from a profile created by the Florida Department of Community Affairs as a part of their initiative to integrate hazard mitigation planning into the local comprehensive plan.  According to this analysis future land uses that exist within hazard prone areas include:  Mixed Use, Residential, Conservation, Agriculture, Eglin Air Force Base and Okaloosa Island as well as portion of the City of Destin.  Residential developments and mixed-use developments would generally include building types such as housing and commercial as well as office space.  Eglin Air Force base, while considered a critical facility, contains many forested areas and therefore not all buildings will be considered at risk (FDCA, 2005).  The maps found in Section 8.12 of this plan detail where these future land uses exist as well as the hazards to which they are considered to be vulnerable. 

4.2 Hazard Identification

The technical DMA2k planning process begins with hazard identification. In this process, WFRPC and representatives of individual jurisdictions identify all of the natural hazards that threaten the community.  When the hazard types are identified, the participants can make an estimate of the risk each poses to the jurisdiction being evaluated that will be reviewed in Section 5 of this plan. 

4.2.A Hurricane/Tropical Storms

Note to reader:  Storm surge are evaluated in Section 4.2.A1 of this chapter.

Okaloosa County has an approximately 33% chance of being impacted by a tropical storm or hurricane from the Atlantic / Caribbean / Gulf of Mexico basin in any given year (based on data from 1944–1999.)

Figure 1: Percentage probability of a hurricane striking in any given year in the Atlantic/Gulf/Caribbean Basin.  Okaloosa County rests between the 30% and 36 contour. (Source: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqG.html#G12).

Historically, Okaloosa County has experienced a peak 5% chance of hurricane touchdown as indicated in Table 1 below. This peak percentage occurs during the month of September; a typical expectation being that the month of September falls right in the center of peak hurricane season -- between mid-August to late October. However, the official, nationally recognized hurricane season starts June 1st and spans to November 30th.  

However, the public should not be lulled into thinking that a 5% chance of a hurricane impacting the county in September is low.  This represents a four in one hundred chance that Okaloosa County could receive a hurricane in that month compared across the entire North Atlantic basin (hundreds of thousands of square miles stretching from Texas to the west coast of Africa).  These odds are actually statistically high. Nine hurricanes made landfall or at or near Okaloosa County between 1900 and 1996 (See Figure 2).  Four of these storms were major (1917, 1936, Eloise in 1975 and Opal in 1995).

High winds from hurricanes are a substantial threat to all homes, especially manufactured housing.  Category 3 or higher force winds would likely cause substantial damage throughout the County.  Winds in excess of 155 MPH could be experienced in a major Category 5 hurricane in some locations.  In no instance should a resident of a manufactured home stay in the home in hurricane conditions.  This creates an immediate need for sheltering and adds to traffic loading on area roadways (where evacuating residents of nearby coastal counties are already fleeing north).  Traditional stud and brick veneer or siding homes and businesses are vulnerable, as well, especially when hurricane shutters are not used.  Relatively few businesses and homes have hurricane shutters in the County, although shelters and some critical facilities are shuttered.  There is an increased awareness of the need for shutters due to local emergency management, commercial, state, and federal government awareness campaigns. 

In recent history, hurricane approaches towards West Florida have caused major traffic backups on Interstate 10 (Hurricanes Opal – 1995 and Floyd – 1999 are perfect examples).  Hurricane Opal evacuees from Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton Counties caused traffic speeds to decrease to near standstill on I-10.  Additionally, substantial evacuee numbers would be anticipated from residents of south Santa Rosa and Okaloosa Counties, as well as neighboring Escambia County on Pensacola Beach as citizens leave coastal areas for inland locations.  This could impact roadways such as U.S. 98 (Navarre Parkway and Gulf Breeze Parkway), SR 87, SR 281 (Garcon Point Road, the Garcon Point Bridge, and Avalon Boulevard), CR 197 (Chumuckla Highway), and SR 89.  The number of evacuees traveling in or through the county, attempting to find shelters or motels, or being stuck in highway traffic is a real threat to emergency operations, coordination, resources, and management.  Roadways built below flood levels create a risk of trapping people on roadways in vehicles (even if they are not victims of floodwaters) if hurricane force winds reach the area before all persons are evacuated or sheltered.

4.2.A1 Storm Surge

Okaloosa County is a coastal county. However, storm surge from the Choctawhatchee and neighboring East Bay being pushed from the south up the Yellow and Blackwater river valleys of the Pensacola Bay Area basin could combine with river flooding. By far, the largest area of the county susceptible to storm surge are those areas lying adjacent to the Choctawhatchee Bay Area Basin, the coastal city of Destin, and Moreno Point.  This is assumed due to the storm surge zones in Southern Okaloosa and Choctawhatchee Bay “Hurricane Storm Tide Atlas 1999” showing lands surrounding the floodplain of the Choctawhatchee Bay as being in a storm surge zone; primarily land area south of Eglin Air Force Base (See Appendix 1).  A number of residents are vulnerable to storm surge in these areas up to 13.1 feet above mean sea level in a Category 5 hurricane.  Since this corresponds with flooding in the East/Blackwater and Escambia Basin, and is well documented as being vulnerable to flooding on Flood Insurance Rate Maps of the area, a more complete analysis and mitigation discussion will be deferred to LMS sections on “flooding.”

In a hurricane, the county is vulnerable to substantial flooding from tropical rains since the southern part of the county shares the central drainage area for the Choctawhatchee River with neighboring Walton County. Although the majority of urban areas are not in floodplains, impact to roadways, some businesses, and homes stresses already limited emergency management resources. Additionally, many persons who live in flood-prone areas are low or very low income.  This creates substantial need for public assistance in the form of cash, loans, sheltering, food, and resources for recovery.  This can create a long-term response and recovery hardship for the County’s emergency management staff.

The Eglin Air Force Base consumes nearly half of the county’s land area in the south. This land is primarily forested area with little to no anticipated impacts from flood or storm surge activity. However, many urban areas bordering the base to the south are the most vulnerable to both flood and storm surge events. Luckily, flood impacts to urban areas of the county are minimized as many of the urban settlements are situated on elevated topography. The areas of the county most susceptible to localized flooding are located north of I-10 and Eglin Air Force Base and occur when tidal upsurge occurs from the Yellow River. However, the City of Niceville, Town of Shalimar, City of Destin and the Fort Walton Beach urban area also have pockets of localized flooding.

The real hazard for Okaloosa County lies in those areas affected by strong storm surge activity along the coast. These areas include virtually the entire area of Moreno Point, the City of Destin, and all Choctawhatchee Bay area residences; totaling roughly 55,000 people. With the exception of the Cities of Crestview and Laurel Hill, the coastal edge and bay area of Okaloosa County contains the most heavily concentrated population centers and the most development warranting attention for storm surge mitigation. Substantial mitigation efforts including buyouts of property have been ongoing since 1995.  However, some residential dwellings remain vulnerable in the county to flooding since they were either not eligible for buyouts or chose not to participate in voluntary FEMA buyout programs.

4.2.B. Flooding

The Southeast’s humid subtropical climate lends itself to very rainy periods (including rains from tropical systems, air mass thunderstorms, and frontal systems).  Flooding is a real and a routinely expected event in Okaloosa County.  Erosion along banks and gullying in upland areas is present in the county and can present unique situations in prevention of topsoil loss and property damage.  Flooding is considered the more dangerous of these two hazards as it relates to local government efforts to ensure public safety and to reduce the hazards to the community.  These two issues, related to rainfall and the humid climate, are analyzed separately below.

4.2.B1 General Flooding

More than any other natural or human-caused catastrophe, flooding due to storm surge has plagued Okaloosa County’s citizens, emergency operations, and mitigation efforts throughout the history of the community.  Flooding is the primary emergency concern along the Yellow and Shoal Rivers and associated tributaries, sloughs, river oxbow lakes, sinkhole/sandhill lakes and isolated swamps; locally called “bays”. Serious flooding has occurred in 1928, 1929, 1960, 1975, 1990, 1994 and two floods in 1998.  In 1975, the highest flood level was recorded at the Yellow River near Milligan. Floods reached 62.71 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD).  The 1994 Tropical Storm Alberto event (a 131 year flood) caused great devastation to homes, public buildings, and residences near the Yellow and other rivers in Okaloosa County, especially in the Milligan area.  Interstate 10 was closed for a period of time because of damage to the bridges over the Escambia River and Escambia Bay. Hundreds of residents were displaced from homes, only to return to total devastation.  Even homes built to the 100-year base flood elevation standards received water. 

Also impacting Okaloosa County is flooding in adjacent counties.  For example, flooding in Jackson, Washington and Walton Counties, as well as in Alabama, causes people to seek temporary shelter in Okaloosa County. At the very least, neighboring counties will call on Okaloosa County and its’ municipalities for mutual aid assistance, if so needed.

Whereas localized flooding is pretty common in Okaloosa County, nearly all of the urban areas in the county are naturally elevated to avoid any major, sustained flooding. The primary threats to Okaloosa County’s urban areas are those most associated with storm surge activity. These areas include all the areas near the southern perimeter of Eglin Air Force Base and adjacent to Choctawhatchee Bay. Not counting unincorporated areas in the county, these urban areas contain nearly a third of the county’s population (32%).

Nearly all of the City of Destin lies inside the category four and five storm surge zone area according to FIRM data; more specifically, the northern and western portion of the city. The entire peninsula comprising Destin’s southern boundary lies within Category One and Two Storm Surge Zones. Due to the coastal juxtaposition of the city, high winds and flooding due to surge have been sited as major problems during heavy storm events.

Similar to the City of Destin, a vast majority of Fort Walton Beach lies inside major storm surge zones. Specifically, The entire eastern and southern portion of the incorporated area lies within category four and five surge zones. The southeastern portion of the city forms a small peninsula. The land mass will is indicated to receive the most surge damage during a heavy storm event. In addition, this area will be the most heavily effected by strong wind conditions.

The City of Niceville, although mostly situated outside the floodplain of the Choctawhatchee Bay, is somewhat flood prone along small tributaries near the City. Due to geography, the City also experiences strong storm surge along its waterfront areas. In particular, the southern area of the City completely lays within the category four and five zone areas.

The smaller urban areas in the southern portion of the county (i.e. Valparaiso, Shalimar, Cinco Bayou, Mary Esther, etc) experience the same sorts of storm surge activity common to the previously mentioned larger urban areas. However, it should be noted that these smaller municipalities typically work with much smaller tax bases and budgets; so reconstruction after a major hazard can be especially difficult.   

The City of Crestview and Laurel Hill are positioned in the more upland area of the county to the north of Eglin Air Force Base. A positive aspect of the City is that the majority of the development lies out of reach of the storm surge areas. However, localized flooding occurs during heavy rain events. Historically, upwelling of the neighboring Shoal River and its tributaries has caused significant flood damage to riparian developments. Flooding can also severely impact Okaloosa County’s road network. There are approximately 303 miles of Arterial and Collector roads in Okaloosa County. Out of this total, 2 miles of these roads are located in the NFIP x500 (500 Year Flood Zone) and 56 miles located in the NFIP IN Special Flood Zone. In total, nearly 20% of State and County roads in Okaloosa County may be come susceptible to flooding during middle to heavy rain events. This is considered a conservative estimate based upon registered State and County roads with FDOT. This is excluding the roads that exist throughout the county that are either not registered or are small informal roadways or both. Heavy rain events which cause temporary localized flooding on roads throughout the county are a concern. Evacuation routes such as the Arterial roads previously mentioned, dirt roads and roads constructed prior to uniform standards and regulations are some of the roadways typically impacted by isolated heavy rain events. “Training” storm systems that tend to saturate land as well as overload drainage and retention systems are particularly difficult to prepare transportation systems for. Of particular concern for the Town of Shalimar are flooding events that have occurred on Highway 85 northbound as well as Shalimar Drive. Flooding rain events have resulted in lane closures or entire road segment closures on these roads in 2004 and 2005.

Many rural roads are not paved and are therefore highly subject to washout.  Culverts and small bridges can sometimes be undermined, causing people to be stranded and isolated until the repairs can be made.  Some major roadways used for evacuation are subject to flooding.  This can create a scenario of stopping road traffic evacuating from other locations and trapping people in their vehicles in traffic jams.  This is a critical issue if this is in combination with an approaching hurricane. County, Town and City road repair crews, police, fire rescue, public works and all emergency response staffs are usually overwhelmed in times of serious flooding.

Flooding impacts the agricultural community by ruining crops, hay supplies, and meat production operations. From 1996 to 2002, natural hazards (of which, flooding being a leading culprit) caused over 1.7 billion dollars damage to Florida’s crops (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hazstats.shtml). According to the Okaloosa County Comprehensive 2010 Plan, Agricultural and Timberland use accounts for nearly 37% of land use in the unincorporated county. Based on this knowledge, there is potential need for mitigation in the agricultural and timber sectors.  

Public health is an immediate issue during and following flooding. Raw sewage from septic tanks and overflowing sewage treatment systems creates a high risk for the public and emergency responders. It should be noted that whereas the causes of many of the wastewater system failures were not caused by natural disasters directly, they could inevitably be an unfortunate casualty as a result of other system failures. For example, the chart below details that many of the floods and spills of the treatment plants were caused by power outages and failure of the electric grid (See Table 2). The grid failures could be the result of the occurrence of a natural disaster. It should be noted that these figures are estimates based upon best available data.

Table 2: Wastewater Plant Overflow in Okaloosa County, 1999-2003. Source: Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2003.

Dead animals can be present. With the advent of West Nile Virus (WNV) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), mosquito infestations are now even more of a concern. (http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/OSTDS/statistics).

Most importantly, flooding inside or outside of Okaloosa County impacts the local economy by causing dollars to be spent on relief and reconstruction needs, rather than contributing to savings or long-term financial planning by families and businesses. The public tax base of the county is also harmed during each flood event.

Mitigation efforts in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s are reducing the numbers of individual homes and businesses subject to flooding.  The federal and state governments, not to mention local-government matching funds and in-kind donations, to promote buy-outs and property purchases, have invested millions of dollars.  Buyouts using Hazard Mitigation Grant Program dollars have contributed greatly to the reduction of floodprone homes and businesses along CR 179-A along the Yellow River valley. Many homes once in the county’s floodplains have been purchased by FEMA dollars and demolished. Since October of 2001, Okaloosa County has received over $6.1 million dollars to acquire 224 properties.

Building permits are issued strictly in accordance with the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).  Purchases of 2,586 acres of land in the County by the Northwest Florida Water Management District and Preservation 2000/Forever Florida programs in the Yellow River drainage basin is also mitigating future damage by having floodplains designated as natural conservation areas in the county’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan.  The only uses allowed on such lands are recreational in nature.  Although the severity of flooding may now be reduced in the county, the potential for disaster continues.

NFIP Flood Insurance Rate Maps, available at the Building Inspections Office, and the Local Mitigation Strategy Plan latest edition shows floodplains and floodprone areas of the county and municipal jurisdictions.

4.2.B2 Dam Safety

Although dam safety might be considered a technological hazard, the primary concern is the potential for flooding downstream and down the valley from a dam where flooding might not naturally occur.  Thousands of people have lost their lives in dam mishaps in the history of the nation.  Therefore, the issue deserves the attention of this plan.  It is considered separate from the Section B.1 of this chapter (dealing strictly with natural flood) because of the technological relation to a human-made structure and the regulatory framework in place for dam safety.  While this is considered to be a possible hazard in Okaloosa County, there is no record of previous dam failure occurrences within the county.  Based upon past occurrences, it has been determined that the probability of future dam failures is low.

The Northwest Florida Water Management District is responsible for the permitting, inspection, and revocation of permits for dams in Okaloosa County that meet certain criteria, per the guidance of Chapters 373.314 and 373.316 Florida Statutes and Chapters 40A-4 and 40A-44 Florida Administrative Code (FAC).

The numbers of dams, their types, and regulating authority under FAC for Okaloosa County are shown in the Table below.

Table 4: Registered Dam Activity in Okaloosa County as of 2003. Source: North West Florida Water Management District, 2003

4.2.C Land Erosion

The Gulf Coastal Plain consists of sands, clays and silts that form the soils of the County (See Appendix 2).  Limestone outcrops, although present in some locations (particularly along the Yellow and Shoal Rivers) are not common.  The soft sediments that do prevail can be vulnerable to erosion when topography, vegetation, and ability to absorb water combine to form energy to weather away soils.

Sheet erosion, rills and gullies, are the most commonly observed types of erosion in the County.  Most of these features are associated with disturbances in natural vegetation, poor management of agricultural lands, silvicultural operations, building construction, or road construction and maintenance projects.  Such erosion, left unchecked, can damage drainage ditches, fill stormwater retention ponds with sediment, and cause erosion into property, including structures.  Most erosion of this nature occurs in some agricultural areas of the County and along unpaved roadways in hilly areas. In this instance, the result is a build up of soils/sands deposition on the roadways and drainage systems.

Erosion along riverbanks is a much less common issue in the County. A major river in the County is the Yellow River. The majority of the flood plain of the Yellow River is owned by the Northwest Florida Water Management District and is not subject to development (See Map 2). There are private parcels, however, that front Yellow River, Shoal River, and other water bodies.  These properties are generally on small bluffs over the river (five to ten feet above normal water level).  There have been reports of riverine erosion impacting structures along these water bodies. The most likely areas of riverine erosion potential include the southern portion of the Yellow River and the nearly the entire lower portion of the Shoal River.

Erosion can also be found where topography and slope increases away from rivers.   Steeper topography, combined with road and homesite development, can cause sheet erosion, rilling and gullies where sediment can empty into creeks, bays, etc. Out of the 55 identified soil types in Okaloosa County, 32.3% possess characteristics of “Highly Erodable (HE)” or “Potentially Highly Erodable (PEH)” soil types (see below).

* Potentially Highly Erodable Soils  ¤ Highly Erodable Soils

Professional services and consultation services available in the community generally lead to quick elimination or control of such erosion.  Most erosion incidents are minor in nature and are corrected with terraces, hay bales, mulch, tilling practices, silt screens, water turnouts, or other features.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service through the Yellow River Soil and Water Conservation District (which covers the county) provides advice to private property owners on erosion issues. The NRCS has analyzed the potential for erosion in the county for years as a part of its normal duties, in support of the Federal Farm Bill, and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).  There are currently 137 participants of the CRP program in Okaloosa County. Emphasis is on agricultural areas, but all property owners are eligible for assistance. 

The Florida Division of Forestry can also assist property owners when dealing with issues of erosion on silvicultural lands.  Professional engineering services are often used to examine and eliminate erosion issues on public lands.

Stormwater control through planning and design, engineering and management can also eliminate or reduce erosion.  This is particularly true within new and re-development projects. Advanced planning can help to avoid soils and sands getting into the stormwater drainage system, resulting in clogged systems and polluted water bodies. River bank erosion is a natural process that cannot be easily controlled by engineering or design.  The most structural solution is installation of seawalls (which require permits from the Department of Environmental Protection).  Site selection for building (away from the outside of cutting banks on rivers) is a way to avoid being in an erosive area.

4.2.C1 Sinkholes

The Florida Geological Survey of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) indicates in its “Sinkhole Type, Development and Distribution in Florida” map and description indicates Okaloosa County in its entirety is located in an area where sinkholes seldom, if ever occur. DEP’s statewide sinkhole database indicates no sinkholes in the county.  Since there is no history of this hazard in the county, no further analysis or risk assessment will be conducted for this plan. However, should conditions change and geological features should be discovered which are contributing to the development of new occurrences of sinkhole development, the LMS committee will include any new occurrence information in ongoing updates.

4.2.C2 Expansive Soils

According to the Soil Survey of Okaloosa County Florida (USDA, June 1975), two types of soils are considered vulnerable to expansion.  These are known as shrinking and swelling or “expansive soils.” Another way of describing expansive soils is the change of volume of a soil with a change of moisture content. 

In Okaloosa County, clayey sub-soils are generally responsible for the shrinking and swelling characteristics of these soils.  This lends itself to low strength for building foundations.  Steel reinforcing rods in foundations and a base of sand under a foundation reduce these limitations for buildings.  These soils also have limitations for use as local roads and streets because of lack of strength to support roadways and traffic.

The following table lists soils having moderate to high shrink swell potential in Okaloosa County.  Only those soils with an associated risk of “High” are listed:

4.2.D Severe Storms

The Severe Storms segment of the LMS Hazards Assessment will include thunderstorms, (including hail, lightning, and high winds) (exclusive of tornado and hurricane which are covered in other sections of this chapter), winter weather, and heat and drought collectively.

4.2.D1 Tornado & Waterspout

Tornadoes and waterspouts are small-scale weather phenomena as a vortex of rising air.  Tornadoes occur over land, and waterspouts occur over water.  The Fujita Scale is the basis of measurement of the strength of tornadoes.  Nationwide, 76% of all tornadoes are F0 or F1 weak intensity and account for 4% of total deaths.  Twenty five percent are F2 or F3 strong tornadoes, accounting for 29% of total nationwide tornado deaths.  Finally, 1% are F 5 violent tornadoes and account for 67% of all tornado deaths nationwide.

From 1980 to 1999, the National Severe Storms Center has calculated Okaloosa County as having about 0.8 to 1.0 tornado days each year.  This is the average number of days that tornadoes occur on over the course of one year.  By comparison, portions of the Great Plains have 1.6 to 2.0 tornado days each year.

The following table provides a reference to the number of documented tornadoes in Okaloosa County (1955 – 1995):

In nearby Washington County as recently as March 2001, an early morning tornado struck a residential area on the edge of Wausau, killing one person and injuring 11 others, one severely. Nine homes were destroyed, and 14 were damaged. The homes were a mixture of trailers, "manufactured," and frame houses. The death and critical injury occurred as a manufactured home was lifted and "smashed to the ground." Other injuries occurred as a manufactured home was "thrown a hundred feet and exploded into hundreds of pieces of contorted metal and twisted wood." The path was initially estimated at 10 miles long, 300 yards wide, and F2 in intensity. (Source:  Tornado Project Online). The greatest likelihood of tornado occurrence is during April and May.  The greatest likelihood of an F2 or greater is in April. See Figure 3.  (Source:  National Severe Storms Laboratory).  Because of the unpredictable patterns of tornadoes, and because the entire state, including Okaloosa County, has a relatively high reoccurrence frequency, the entire County is vulnerable to tornado damage.  The damage potential for a tornado increases as a function of population density.  As the number of structures and people increase, the potential damage/injury rate increases.  Manufactured housing, poorly constructed or substandard housing or apartment complexes are especially susceptible to damage from a tornado.  Manufactured housing and substandard housing are exceptionally susceptible because of their lack of resistance to high winds, and apartment complexes because of their size and densities. The most common and active weather threat in Okaloosa County for the formation of tornadoes is severe thunderstorms associated with frontal boundaries. Frontal boundaries and summertime afternoon air mass thunderstorms can reach severe limits because of atmospheric uplift.  Lightning is the most severe threat to the public.  High winds relating to gust fronts and microbursts can create high wind speeds up to 100 MPH.  Buildings and highway traffic are vulnerable to these storms.

4.2.D2 Thunderstorms and Lightning

The National Severe Storms Laboratory of the National Weather Service classifies a thunderstorm as severe when it contains one or more of the following phenomena: ·Hail 3/4" or greater

·Winds gusting in excess of 50 knots (57.5 mph)

·A tornado

Okaloosa County has 70 to 90 thunderstorm days each year.  Consistent with averages from around the State of Florida, this is some of the highest frequency in the nation.  The vast majority of these days are from May to September.  However, thunderstorms may occur during any month of the year.

Aside from being able to produce tornadoes, thunderstorms can cause damage with high winds (see Figure 5).  Cold upper level air descending from the top of a thunderstorm to the ground usually causes these winds.  If the speed of decent is rapid, these cold “microbursts” can fan out as they come in contact with the ground at a high rate of speed.  This is sometimes referred to as “straight line winds.”  These winds can cause significant property damage, injuries, and deaths similar to a F0 to F2 tornado or Category 1 or 2 hurricanes.

Florida leads the nation in lightning strikes per year (closely correlating with the number of thunderstorm days per year). In addition, Florida also leads the nation in lightning fatalities with 9-recorded deaths in 2002. Between 1971 and 2002 (see Figure 5), Okaloosa County recorded 154 severe thunderstorms.  Okaloosa County is estimated to have 4 to 8 flashes per square kilometer per year throughout the county, based upon data from 1996 to 2000 (source:  U.S. Lightning Detection Network).  This ranks as typical for Florida and the Southeast, but well above average for the nation as a whole. Most thunderstorms in the County occur due to air mass heating during hot summer days.  Additionally passage of cold fronts in the autumn, winter and spring can trigger lines of thunderstorms.

The primary risk to the county and its residents in thunderstorms is traffic accidents on wet roads and some flash flooding of prone areas, followed by lightning damage to electronics and structures, strikes on people, and wind and hail damage.  Mitigation against thunderstorms is best accomplished by staying indoors in a well build structure or inside of a motor vehicle with a metal frame and body.  Most people injured or killed by thunderstorms or lightning are outdoors, not inside.  Electronic equipment and data loss prevention is best accomplished with surge protection devices, proper grounding, unplugging, or other electrical safety systems.  Animal and crop losses due to thunderstorms, lightning and hail are more difficult to militate against.  Cattle and horses are sometimes killed while seeking shelter under trees (the very place lightning may strike in fields).  Hail can devastate crops, although most hail in the area is fortunately pea sized and falls for a short duration.  Mitigation for livestock and crops is generally handled through financial reimbursement with farm or commodity insurance.

4.2.D3 Winter Storms

Winter weather in Okaloosa County can include snow, ice, sleet (freezing rain), hard freeze temperatures, and frost.  The most common winter event is frost, followed by hard freeze.

Freezes occur most every winter, with the average winter minimum low occurring near January 20 with a temperature of 20° F. (-6.6° C.).  Generally, the second night following the passage of a strong cold front is the coldest night when skies are clear and humidity is lowest.  Most low temperatures involving freezes occur at night and in the hours near dawn.  In most instances, temperatures even on the coldest winter days rise above freezing during daylight hours.  Such freezes might be considered by those who are not familiar with Okaloosa County’s climate (and instead compare it to what they’ve seen on television of frozen oranges and tomatoes much further downstate) a moment of disaster for the county.  However, freezes in this part of Florida are a natural and routinely expected occurrence each year, and summer crops are not grown in the winter in the county as they are from Orlando south.

A freeze’s greatest risk is generally unprotected or under-protected water pipes in homes, businesses and infrastructure.  Outdoor irrigation systems and plumbing in homes where insulation is inadequate in walls or in off-grade homes are most vulnerable. Unmitigated older structures are probably the most vulnerable structures, with manufactured housing (due to its off-grade construction and placement technique) is also vulnerable. Mitigation occurs when individuals take actions during construction or for a freeze to protect pipes with wrapping forming a layer of insulation, and/or keeping water moving through pipes by leaving a faucet on. 

Home and business heating is accomplished locally with electricity, natural gas, or propane appliances.  A few individuals may use other methods, such as kerosene heaters or wood fireplaces or stoves.  Temperatures lower than 15° F. (-9.4° C.) for an extended period would likely cause County Emergency Management to open a shelter for those who had inadequate heating of their homes. 

Since tropical or subtropical crops are generally not grown in northern and western Florida in the winter freeze season, agricultural damage so often associated with winter freezes in the state are all but absent in Okaloosa County.  Ill, old or unprotected animals exposed to a night of freezing wind, are most vulnerable.  During a very severe freeze, some ornamental plants may receive damage, and some poultry operations may experience difficulties keeping fowl warm in brooder houses in the county.  Mitigation is generally accomplished through farm heating units and allowing animals to enter barns or shelters.

Icing, glaze, and sleet are rare but real possibilities in the county.  A large ice storm affected portions of North Florida in the 1980’s in the Lake City to Wildwood corridor of I-75 about 210 miles east of Bonifay with devastating results on traffic flow.  Some five inches of ice accumulated on I-75.  The State of Florida had no means of ice removal in such a situation, and mutual aid resources from neighboring states were needed. A similar incident in Okaloosa County would likely cause total paralysis of the community and its roadways, including I-10.  With no means of salting roadways or removing ice, emergency response would be severely slowed in iced areas.  Electrical service would likely be interrupted or totally absent in many areas due to power line glazing and tree branch falls.  The ability of municipalities to provide natural gas might be hampered by the large-scale demand throughout the Southeast for the product.  The possibility of need for shelter would be great in order to keep people warm and safe.  Mitigation efforts would more likely focus on sheltering and ability to receive outside mutual aid assistance, rather than on equipment and ice buildup prevention due to the infrequency and inconsistency of such events.

Snow in Okaloosa County is considered a very rare and exciting event.  Neighborhoods come to life with children playing outdoors when it snows.  A single snow “event” over five or ten years is probably the average.  A few big wet flakes and a dusting on the ground on a Christmas Eve (as occurred in 1988) was an occasion worth celebrating and remembering for young and old across West Florida!  During the past fifty years, there have been approximately twenty-five events of “trace amounts” of snow, and about four measurable snowfall events of up to four inches of accumulation.  Snow generally will melt off in about six to eight hours, if indeed it takes that long (more often melting occurs in minutes).  Such an event will cause schools to close if snow can even be forecasted by the National Weather Service ahead of time (to reduce risk of children and drivers during transport and to “enjoy the event”).  Snow generally accumulates on natural surfaces, while roadways remain open, albeit slippery on some bridges.  Generally, the risk of snow and the chances or needs for mitigation of snow events are virtually zero in the county.

4.2.D4 Heat Waves and Drought

Heat waves usually occur over five to ten continuous days along the northern Gulf Coastal region and West Florida.  The Gulf of Mexico’s presence tends to moderate temperatures and form coastal thunderstorms, reducing heat levels and providing coastal sea breeze front rains.Droughts are more frequent and cyclical in the area.  Seasonal climatological droughts occur in April and October. Despite the assumption that the southern portion of Florida receives the highest temperatures due to sheer geography, the highest recorded heat waves have occurred in the Florida Panhandle. To date, the highest recorded temperature in Florida was set in the City of Monticello at a searing 109 degrees Fahrenheit (See Figure 6). Whereas this record was not set in Okaloosa County specifically, it should be noted that this temperature was recorded only 175 miles away.

When heat waves occur, large high-pressure systems generally become entrenched over the Southeastern states.  Once stagnation occurs and weather systems do not move away, heat can build up in the summer months and cause temperatures to climb into the upper 90° F. range (35° C.) or above.  The general threat to the community is to agricultural crops, livestock, poultry, and individuals without adequate cooling systems in their homes, with emphasis on low income and the elderly.  Electrical system failures due to demand would only enhance problems for all of these industries and populations.  Mitigation efforts might focus on evaluation of vulnerability, providing adequate shelters for people, and maintaining mutual aid agreements to ensure a supply of generators for electrical purposes at critical facilities or agricultural facilities.

Drought has impacted the county in a number of ways.  Bay swamps saw a decline in the levels of natural water levels to near 15 feet below normal water lines during the four-year drought from 1999 to 2002.  Agricultural losses occurred, primarily with summer crops.  Demand on local municipal and private water supply systems to the public caused some generators and pumps to fail at critical moments, creating low or no pressure for critical facilities such as fire hydrants and medical centers.  Although mitigation cannot bring about rainfall, reliance on groundwater sources can create harsh conditions for water pumps and generators, especially older models.  A need for upgrade of such facilities may exist.

Firefighting increases as drought deepens.  Since the county is mostly rural and open and forested lands are a prominent part of the landscape, the ability to obtain water from fire hydrants or “dry hydrants” (essentially wells and piping connected to the underlying Floridian Aquifer or surface lakes or ponds to allow for rapid pumping of water by fire trucks) is an important means of combating fire during drought.  (A more thorough analysis of fire hazards is provided in Section 4.2.F of this chapter.)

4.2.E Wildfire

Okaloosa County is vulnerable to wildfire. According to the Florida Department of Forestry, approximately 85% to 90% of the land in the county is open forestland and most locations outside of the floodplains and swamplands consist of natural vegetation historically related to the Longleaf Pine or upland Southeastern forests (a fire dependent ecology).

Natural fires can be caused primarily from lightning.  More likely, human-induced fires are a more likely cause of fires in the county.  This includes fires purposely set (arson) or accidental causes (escaping trash fires, cigarettes, sparks from passing railcars, motor vehicle fires on roadsides that spread to woodlands, or house fires that expand to wildlands).

During droughts, wildfire is a significant concern to a number of residential areas and even whole communities.  Soils and plant communities contribute greatly to the potential for a fire (particularly in locations of sandhills in the western portion of the County), but fires may occur at practically any location. 

Vacant fields, woodlands, lots and acreage connect communities to the rural/urban interface.  This could allow fires to come into subdivisions and neighborhoods in urban and suburban areas, which could be a potentially catastrophic situation. 

Land use in the county is often focused on timber plantations.  There is substantial acreage of forest grown for pulpwood and timber production. Prescribed burning alleviates the potential for wildfire in much of the county.  It is of agricultural importance to purposely burn (in a controlled manner) fuel on the ground to reduce the potential of a fire going out of control.

Currently, the Florida Department of Forestry is currently supporting a large statewide wildfire risk assessment using new spatial technologies. These technologies enable forest managers to observe and plan for reducing wildfire risk to consistent encroachment of urban areas to forestlands. Specifically, the Division of Forestry is developing FRAS (Fire Risk Assessment Application), a GIS-based interface software package that will used to assess wildfire hazard in proportion to a host of terrestrial, man-made phenomenon. The official goals of the program include:

• Map statewide fuel sources.
• To model and map “Levels of Concern” (LOC). Meaning: areas where significant areas of fuel reduction work must involve cooperative efforts between State, public, and private landowners.
• Allow for location sensitivity analysis for the identified LOC’s in order to make changes to input variables
• Facilitate the updating of the model for changes in evolving land uses and change in fuel characteristics.

While Okaloosa County is considered to be at-risk for wildfire, there is no record of previous occurrences within the county.

4.2.F Tsunami

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Okaloosa County is not located in an area that has historically been subjected to tsunamis, even though it is a coastal county.  Since there is no history of this hazard in the county, minimum analysis and risk assessment will be conducted for this plan. Most of the analysis provided will be from the probability based TAOS output systems. This will provide a damage assessment of what impact a potential tsunami might have on the coastal area. Further, there is extensive discussion regarding the effects of coastal storm surge. It is thought that the effects of surge would be very similar to the average historical tsunami events. Therefore, the Surge discussion should adequately address the similar effects. The LMS Committee will monitor any developments in the ability to predict, monitor and issue warnings since the 2004 Asian Tsunami event has prompted new interests in these scenarios.

4.2.G Beach Erosion

The issue of beach erosion is only a coastal issue. However, the majority of the population does live near the coastal area, and even those who do not live there, may use the beach for recreation from time to time. Recreation and Tourism withstanding, the issue of beach erosion is a concern due to the potential impact on infrastructure, such as roads, water, sewer, communications and gas transmission lines. The affects of beach erosion are particularly difficult to plan mitigation for, since it is evolving and cyclical in nature, as well as occasionally being accelerated by hurricanes and other weather events.

Historically, State agencies have attributed some erosion to the construction of jetties and passes. The Okaloosa County Comprehensive Plan, Coastal Management Element does a good job of addressing the mitigation of manmade impacts to the coastal sands. Specifically, Policy 1.2.8 which states that “ Shoreline Armory should be discouraged in favor of alternative methods of enhancing shoreline stability that minimize erosion and allow for the growth of emergent shoreline grasses.” Policy 2.1.3 sets limits on the maximum density for development in the Coastal High Hazard areas outside of Okaloosa Island.

Since the intent of this plan is to focus on natural hazards, the discussion will center on the effects of storm events on the coastal sands. According to a FDEP report number BCS-99-05, Shoreline Change Rate Estimates, beach erosion can occur at increments from 1’-8’ per year. It all depends on the location of the measurements. That only accounts for natural erosion.

Storm events can increase those measurements greatly and have done so. Hurricane Ivan (September 2004) data is still being compiled at the time of this update. However, some data is available. Sever and major damage occurred to the beach and dune systems of Okaloosa Island and Destin. As a result of storm surge and winds eroding the sands, there were approximately 20 multi family dwellings destroyed on Okaloosa Island, and 23 in Destin. Destin also had 16 single-family dwellings destroyed. Between the two locations there were 9 walls or revetments damaged and 20 other structures classified as non-habitable structures.  Eglin AFB lost some communications monitoring equipment as well as some buildings, due to the high erosion.

Sand erosion contributed to the wash out of Highway 98 between Destin and Fort Walton Beach during Ivan. A breach of Norriego Point occurred as well, which resulted in the loss of beach area. This type of hurricane storm damage resulted in both the lowering of the beach profile and dune erosion.

4.2.H Other Hazards

The hazards listed below have been analyzed to determine that impact would be minimal or non-existent. 

1.         Earthquake According to the U.S. Geological Survey National Seismic Hazard Mapping Project (1996), there is a 1.5%g peak acceleration rate for earthquake hazard.  This is considered very minimal risk.  Since there is no history of earthquakes in the county, no further analysis or risk assessment will be conducted for this plan.

2.         Avalanche Okaloosa County does not have topography nor snowfall amounts that would create conditions for an avalanche.  Since there is no history of this hazard in the county, no further analysis or risk assessment will be conducted for this plan.

3.         Land Subsidence Land subsidence has been documented in Okaloosa County. Some occurrences of land subsidence may have occurred in the County in the past. The events may be contributed to shifting water table levels and heavy rain events. However, sinkholes due to karst topography may occur.  Sinkholes are covered under Section G of this chapter.  Since there is no history of this hazard in the county, no further analysis or risk assessment will be conducted for this plan. (Note: Flood Insurance classifies Land Subsidence as also being rising waters that eat away at the land.)

4.         Landslide According to the U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Hazards (Open-File Report 97-289 by Godt) program, Okaloosa County shares a large area of the Gulf Coastal Plain where less than 1.5% of area is susceptible to landslide.  Although some portions of the county are “hilly” by coastal plain standards, there are no documented cases of a landslide occurring in the county (researched back to the 1940’s). LMS Committee members however, did state that a hillside collapse did occur in the Cheula Vista Bayou area in 2005. It was unclear as to the contributing factors of the event. However, development practices may have contributed to the occurrence.  Since only one occurrence was noted, landslides are therefore considered to be a minimal risk to the county.

Should a re-occurrence pattern develop as development spreads throughout the County, the LMS Committee will consider mitigation actions, including but not limited to any necessary Land Development Code revisions.

5.         Volcano

There are no geological features in or near Okaloosa County or the Southeast related to volcanism.  Since there is no history of this hazard in the county, no further analysis or risk assessment will be conducted for this plan.

4.3 Summary

It must be emphasized that the fundamental reason for undertaking the hazard identification is to highlight vulnerabilities that need to be addressed by the development of mitigation initiatives for incorporation into the Okaloosa County LMS Plan.  Because of the numerous facilities, systems and neighborhoods in Okaloosa County that need be assessed for their vulnerability to disasters, this planning process can be expected to continue in the future. Specific community vulnerabilities shall be assessed in the following Section 5.

Section Five

Vulnerability Assessment

5.1 Introduction

This section of the Okaloosa County Local Hazard Mitigation Plan summarizes the results of the hazard identification and vulnerability assessment processes undertaken by the LMS Committee members. The intent of this section is to provide a compilation of the information gathered and the judgments made about the hazards threatening Okaloosa County as a whole, and the potential vulnerability to those hazards. In this section, information relevant to the entire planning area is compiled and an overview of the analyses is provided.

As noted in Section 4, the technical planning process begins with hazard identification. In this process, the Planning Committee and representatives of individual jurisdictions identified all of the natural hazards that threaten the community.  With the hazard types are identified, the participants can make an estimate of the risk each poses to the jurisdiction being evaluated. Out of all the hazards listed in Section 4, there are four that have been identified as especially characteristic to Okaloosa County and the region as a whole. These include Hurricane, Flood, Storm Surge, and Wildfire. These four hazards shall be analyzed the most in-depth in relation facility damage. The remaining hazards will be analyzed under a separate category of “Other Hazards”.

The estimate of risk is based on the judgment of the planners regarding the likely frequency of occurrence of one or more hazard events compared to its consequences.  The higher the frequency of occurrence and the greater the consequences, the higher the risk posed by that hazard.  The LMS Committee derives a “relative risk score” using a qualitative process in which planners compile their estimates of the likely frequency of occurrence, the extent of the community that would be impacted, and the likely consequences in terms of public safety, property damage, economic impacts and harm to valuable community resources.  The total of the qualitative assessments of each of these is considered in this plan to constitute the “relative risk score.” The score is derived by assessing community facilities susceptible to a multitude of common natural hazards and then classified in a three-tiered system based upon a color scheme indicating risk vulnerability (See Appendix 1).

The color scheme works as follows:

• Blue (low level) classifications indicate structures or properties that experience or have historically been impacted by only one or fewer natural hazards. For planning purposes, those structures classified in this cohort are given a risk assessment score or “low” in terms of addressing immediate mitigation needs.
• Yellow (moderate level) classifications indicate structures or properties that experience or have historically been impacted by 2 natural hazards. For planning purposes, those structures classified in this cohort are given a risk assessment score of “moderate” in terms of addressing immediate mitigation needs.
• Red (high level) classifications indicate structures or properties that experience or have historically been impacted by 3 or more natural hazards. For planning purposes, those structures classified in this cohort are given a risk assessment score of “high” in terms of addressing immediate mitigation needs.

As mentioned above, priority areas have been color-coded to indicate an increasing level of need for mitigation attention. These areas were identified by overlaying GIS layers for hurricane, storm surge, flooding, and wildfire over tax parcels for the entire county. These layers were draped over one another to determine which parcels of property were vulnerable to the various combinations of hazard events. This prioritization scheme was applied to the entire county (See Figure 1).

By default, all areas within the county are color-coded blue (one or fewer hazard events). This is to account for the fact that all parcels in the county are vulnerable, at the very least, to hurricanes and the forceful winds produced by such events.

The parcels identified as being in the yellow category (two natural hazards) were derived by determining which parcels were vulnerable to both storm surge and flooding. High priority (red categories) were created by simply overlaying wildfire hazard layers over the yellow category zones and then identifying those parcels where all three overlap.

In deriving these estimates of risk, the participating jurisdictions have utilized any available information regarding the geographic areas that may be impacted by each identified hazard, as well as population, infrastructure and facilities within those impacted areas.  This has included inventories of valuable environmental resources, as well as factors that are influential to the economic well being of the community.  The properties targeted in this section were identified through a thorough, comprehensive community analysis and inventory process initiated by the LMS Committee. Many of these structures are not listed on the most up-to-date Okaloosa County LMS initiatives list and have been identified for mitigation during the follow-up 5-year planning process. The projects listed on the most updated LMS initiatives list are the result of a seven-year inventory period. These facilities were then prioritized and ranked by the LMS Committee according to function and immediate need for mitigation (See Appendix 2 for priorities list). Building upon this list, an extensive Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis is incorporated in identifying vulnerable facilities and/or structures in relation to hazard areas. The result will be the identification and mapping of all facilities in the county.

The facilities identified in the GIS analysis will add substantially to the current LMS initiatives list. However, many of these projects will be addressed and added to the official list incrementally during the subsequent 5-year plan implementation period and will be accounted for in the LMS plan update. In addition, the analysis in this section will lead to the creation of specific policies, recommendations, and strategies to address the mitigation deficiencies in Section Six. Section Six will also identify the desired scheduling of the future planning efforts of the LMS Committee as well as the desired schedule for implementation of proposed mitigation initiatives by the participating jurisdictions and organizations.

Note: The data presented in this section is for planning research purposes only. It is the result of using all best available data and should not be used as a base or substitute for official construction and/or site design documentation nor as a binding document for litigation purposes.

 5.2 City of Laurel Hill

5.2.A Community Mitigation Overview The City of Laurel Hill is Okaloosa County’s eighth largest urban area (by residents) with a total population of 549 according to Census 2000. There are approximately 452 parcels of land in Laurel Hill that have a “Just Value” of roughly $15,461,683. For the purposes of this study, “Just Value” is used for estimating monetary damage due to flood hazards. According to the Okaloosa County Property Appraisers Office, Just Value is the value established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem purposes and includes both the structural and land value. Under Florida Law, Just Value has been the term coined for representing Fair Market Value.

The City is located approximately 38 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico and is not subject to coastal flooding or storm surge.  Located along a divide separating the Yellow and Shoal River valleys (SR 85 traverses this ridge), a number of small, unnamed creeks begin on the ridge’s sides in Laurel Hill and flow west or east away from the ridge.  Flooding is not experienced by residents or businesses.  (This does not preclude the possibilities of flooding from improper development/stormwater situations.)  Laurel Hill is the only local government jurisdiction in Okaloosa County that is not a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program.

Historical natural occurring disasters or threatened disasters include high winds (hurricane and severe storms), tornadoes, hail, and wildland fires.  Traffic evacuating from south Okaloosa County during hurricane events presents a major traffic management problem as well as human mass care needs (water, restrooms, refuges of last resort, etc.).  Ice or snow may occur at highly infrequent intervals, possibly causing traffic or electrical service problems. There are three identified critical facilities in the City of Laurel Hill. All three of the facilities are spatially located in some form of hazard area, thus making it vulnerable to damage due to hazard events. This information was obtained by overlaying hazard layers onto point locations of critical facilities. Only those facilities vulnerable to “High” wildfire are marked below. A summary of Laurel Hill’s vulnerability by specific hazards is given below:

The tri-color prioritization scheme was applied using GIS software to determine general areas or parcels in Laurel Hill that require varying levels of mitigation (See Appendix 4). The results of the analysis are detailed in the table below:

5.2.B Hurricane

For the purposes of this section, high wind vulnerability shall be the component analyzed. Flooding and surge events associated with hurricanes are analyzed separately further in this document. Since flooding and surge are covered in detail, the only remaining variable in a hurricane event that needs to be examined are high winds and the community’s vulnerability to them. Data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System). This system is an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data. Kinetic Analysis Corporation (KAC) created the following DRAFT outputs under contract with the Florida Department of Community Affairs. Historical storms (past 153 years for tropical cyclones and past 50 years) were simulated using the TAOS model, version 10.2.  Winds were computed and hazard zones created based upon these simulations.  Wind layers were created based on percent damage expected.  Additionally, FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data was ingested, and the tabular data sets were run for comparison. (http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html, 2004). It should also be noted that this TAOS wind data covers the entire county and is not jurisdiction specific. Due to the wide breadth of area this data covers, more detailed information (for example, dollars values) shall be covered in the “Unincorporated Okaloosa County” section below since this section also covers the entire county.

This section shall outline wind speed vulnerability for the city. A summary of the wind velocity vulnerabilities for the City of Laurel Hill is summarized in the table below:

Source: TAOS model data; 2004, http://www.methaz.org/lmsmaps/,

5.2.C Flood

Using DFIRM flood data in a GIS application, 100- and 500-year flood zones were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 5). Although the entire City of Laurel Hill has not been assessed for flood zones (since it is not a participating NFIP community), the City has one flood zone type, which lies within its borders identified on DFIRMS. This includes:

For the purposes of this sub-section on Laurel Hill, Zone ”A” has been classified in a broader “100-year flood” category to streamline data analysis. Rather than using the standard methods of classifying 500-year flood zones, FEMA has redesigned the classification of the 500-year flood for the 2004 DFIRM’s by assigning those areas as areas of “0.2 PERCENT ANNUAL CHANCE OF FLOOD” or “Other Food Areas”.  However, for the purposes of this analysis, those areas will be termed 500-year flood.

According to the analysis results, there are 3 parcels of land within the 100-year flood zone in Laurel Hill with a Just Value of $143,145 or 64.6% of the Just Value of all of Laurel Hill. According to the DFIRM data, Laurel Hill is not affected by 500-year floods. Flooding vulnerability for the City of Laurel Hill is summarized in the following table:

Storm Surge Due to its geographic location in the northern portion of the county, Laurel Hill does not experience any storm surge activity and shall therefore not be elaborated further in this section.

5.2.E Wildfire

The City of Laurel Hill is vulnerable to approximately $1,868,155 (Just Value) in damages due to “High” wildfire events. Similar to the hurricane data provided above, the data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System); an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data.

The wildfire potential data was created by reclassifying land cover data sets created for hydrologic models.  These data sets were reclassified to equate the Anderson Level II classification to fuel models used in the National Fire Danger Rating System. These fuel models are an indication of the ability of a fire to start and spread in the given terrain type, and are used as the input to the Fire Potential Index as well as fire spreading models. The resulting data was compared with the NFDR Fuel Model Map created by the US Forest Service (USFS).  The NFDR Fuel Model Map is used for the next generation fire danger rating system being developed by USFS, and is a nationwide map at a resolution of 1000 meters per grid cell based on data from 1997. The KAC developed data for Florida is at a resolution of 90 meters, and compares well the much more general national map while providing a great deal of additional detail, as well as being more up to date due to land cover changes.

Each of the fuel models was assigned to a risk code of “low”, “medium”, or “high”, based on fire spreading potential during a climatologically “dry” year, and processed with the statewide parcel data base to create the tables supplied with the LMS analysis. The mode of the fuel types within 500 meters of the parcel was used to determine risk category for the parcel (Kinetic Analysis Corporation http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html.)

For the purposes of this study, the GIS data depicting wildfire vulnerability were overlaid upon tax parcels whereby values for damage could be assessed (See Appendix 6). The result of the analysis indicates 9.0 percent of the land area in Laurel Hill is vulnerable to high potential for wildfire (See Figure 1). 51.8 is considered to be of low potential, 39.2 percent of medium, and 9.0 percent considered high potential.

.F Other Hazards As identified in Chapter Four, there are a number of other hazards that affect Okaloosa County. However, the direct impacts of these hazards in relation to mitigation applications is somewhat negligible, but worth mentioning. These hazards are covered comprehensively for Okaloosa County below in the section “Unincorporated Okaloosa County”. It should also be noted that this analysis covers both incorporated and unincorporated areas due to the broad geographical area the base data covers. 

5.3 City of Crestview

5.3.A Community Mitigation Overview

The City of Crestview is Okaloosa County’s second largest urban area (by residents) with a total population of 14,766 according to Census 2000. There are approximately 8,799 parcels of land in Crestview that have a “Just Value” of roughly $735,443,824. For the purposes of this study, “Just Value” is used for estimating monetary damage due to flood hazards. According to the Okaloosa County Property Appraisers Office, Just Value is the value established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem purposes and includes both the structural and land value. Under Florida Law, Just Value has been the term coined for representing Fair Market Value. The City is located approximately 25 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico and is not subject to coastal flooding or storm surge.  The City is expanding in area and population as a suburb of the greater Fort Walton Beach/Eglin Air Force Base community, as well as it being the primary interchange for Interstate 10.  The central business district of Crestview is located along a divide separating the Yellow and Shoal River valleys (SR 85 and US 90 traverse this ridge), a number of small, creeks begin on the ridge’s sides in Crestview and flow west, east and south away from the ridge.  Since the 1980’s, Crestview has annexed about five square miles to the south, northwest, and northeast of the original core of the City.  New development (commercial and residential) in these areas occurs on hillsides leading towards and bordering on these creeks.  A small portion of the City now lies in and adjacent to a small portion of the Shoal River floodplain.  Urban expansion to hillsides has increased vulnerability to erosion, sedimentation, and improper stormwater management.  The edges of the City are expanding into rural lands that are more susceptible to wildland fires. Historical natural occurring disasters or threatened disasters include high winds (hurricane and severe storms), tornadoes, hail, and wildland fires.  Traffic evacuating from south Okaloosa County or from the west (from Pensacola) during hurricane events presents a major traffic management problem as well as human mass care needs (water, restrooms, refuges of last resort, etc.) along both SR 85 and I-10.  Ice or snow may occur at highly infrequent intervals, possibly causing traffic or electrical service problems. There are 13 identified critical facilities in the City of Crestview (See Appendix 7). All 13 of the facilities are spatially located in only hurricane areas, thus making it vulnerable to damage due to hazard events. This information was obtained by overlaying hazard layers onto point locations of critical facilities. Only those facilities vulnerable to “High” wildfire are marked below. A summary of Crestview’s vulnerability by specific hazards is given below:

The tri-color prioritization scheme was applied using GIS software to determine general areas or parcels in Crestview that require varying levels of mitigation (See Appendix 8). The results of the analysis are detailed in the table below:

5.3.B Hurricane

For the purposes of this section, high wind vulnerability shall be the component analyzed. Flooding and surge events associated with hurricanes are analyzed separately further in this document. Since flooding and surge are covered in detail, the only remaining variable in a hurricane event that needs to be examined are high winds and the community’s vulnerability to them.

Data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System). This system is an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data. Kinetic Analysis Corporation (KAC) created the following DRAFT outputs under contract with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

Historical storms (past 153 years for tropical cyclones and past 50 years) were simulated using the TAOS model, version 10.2.  Winds were computed and hazard zones created based upon these simulations.  Wind layers were created based on percent damage expected.  Additionally, FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data was ingested, and the tabular data sets were run for comparison. (http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html, 2004).

It should also be noted that this TAOS wind data covers the entire county and is not jurisdiction specific. Due to the wide breadth of area this data covers, more detailed information (for example, dollars values) shall be covered in the “Unincorporated Okaloosa County” section below since this section also covers the entire county.

This section shall outline wind speed vulnerability for the city. A summary of the wind velocity vulnerabilities for the City of Crestview is summarized in the table below:

Source: TAOS model data; 2004, http://www.methaz.org/lmsmaps/,

5.3.C Flood

Using DFIRM flood data in a GIS application, 100- and 500-year flood zones were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 9). The City of Crestview has three flood zone types that lie within its borders. They include:

For the purposes of this sub-section on Crestview, Zones ”A” and “AE” have been classified into a broader “100-year flood” category to streamline data analysis. Rather than using the standard methods of classifying 500-year flood zones, FEMA has redesigned the classification of the 500-year flood for the 2004 DFIRM’s by assigning those areas as areas of “0.2 PERCENT ANNUAL CHANCE OF FLOOD” or “Other Food Areas”.  However, for the purposes of this analysis, those areas will be termed 500-year flood for the purposes of this plan. According to the analysis results, there are 82 parcels of land within the 100-year flood zone in Crestview with a Just Value of $5,204,060 or 1.0% of the Just Value of all of Crestview. There are 51 identified parcels of land in Crestview that lie within the 500-year flood zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $3,107,817 or <1.0% of the Just Value of all of Crestview. Flooding vulnerability for the City of Crestview is summarized in the following table:

5.3.D Storm Surge Due to its central geographic location in the county, Crestview does not experience any storm surge activity and shall therefore not be elaborated further in this section.

5.3.E Wildfire

The City of Crestview is vulnerable to approximately $50,179,071 (Just Value) in damages due to “High” wildfire events. Similar to the hurricane data provided above, the data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System); an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data.

Using the same data source from the analysis on Laurel Hill from the Kinetic Analysis Corporation, GIS data depicting wildfire vulnerability were overlaid upon tax parcels whereby values for damage could be assessed (See Appendix 10). The result of the analysis indicates 6.0 percent of the land area in Crestview is vulnerable to low potential for wildfire (See Figure 2). 6.0 percent is considered to be of low potential, 88.0 percent of medium, and 6.0 percent considered high potential.

5.3.F Other Hazards As identified in Chapter Four, there are a number of other hazards that affect Okaloosa County. However, the direct impacts of these hazards in relation to mitigation applications is somewhat negligible, but worth mentioning. These hazards are covered comprehensively for Okaloosa County below in the section “Unincorporated Okaloosa County”. It should also be noted that this analysis covers both incorporated and unincorporated areas due to the broad geographical area the base data covers. 

5.4 City of Niceville

5.4.A Community Mitigation Overview The City of Niceville is Okaloosa County’s third largest urban area (by residents) with a total population of 11,684 according to Census 2000. There are approximately 6,090 parcels of land in Niceville that have a “Just Value” of roughly $711,023,936. For the purposes of this study, “Just Value” is used for estimating monetary damage due to flood hazards. According to the Okaloosa County Property Appraisers Office, Just Value is the value established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem purposes and includes both the structural and land value. Under Florida Law, Just Value has been the term coined for representing Fair Market Value. The City is located approximately 8 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico.  It is located, to a great extent, on a peninsula surrounded by Choctawhatchee Bay, Boggy Bayou, and Rocky Bayou.  The City also extends inland away from coastal areas and includes a portion of Eglin Air Force Base.  Niceville is growing in population as a suburb of the greater Fort Walton Beach/Eglin Air Force Base community.  Several small creeks flow through the City.  Some are impounded.  Development is highly concentrated, and a number of residential and commercial establishments are constructed in hurricane storm surge zones.  Eglin AFB’s large acreage of forested lands lie alongside Niceville, and the urban/rural wildfire interface surrounds the City on much of its northern and western boundaries.

From a mitigation management point of view, substantial acreage of unincorporated Okaloosa County is situated as small enclaves in the Niceville area.  Locations that appear to be urban neighborhoods that are part of the City are, in fact, under the management of Okaloosa County.  This includes coastal and inland homes and businesses.  Conversely, a portion of Niceville is also located west of Turkey Creek along SR 85 and might be mistaken as being located in the City of Valparaiso.

Historical natural occurring disasters or threatened disasters include high winds (hurricane and severe storms), coastal flooding and storm surge, tornadoes, waterspouts, hail, and wildland fires.  Ice or snow may occur at extremely rare intervals, possibly causing traffic or electrical service problems.

There are 6 identified critical facilities in the City of Niceville (See Appendix 11). All 6 of the facilities are spatially located in only hurricane hazard areas, thus making it vulnerable to damage due to hazard events. This information was obtained by overlaying hazard layers onto point locations of critical facilities. Only those facilities vulnerable to “High” wildfire are marked below. A summary of Niceville’s vulnerability by specific hazards is given below:

The tri-color prioritization scheme was applied using GIS software to determine general areas or parcels in Niceville that require varying levels of mitigation (See Appendix 12). The results of the analysis are detailed in the table below:

5.4.B Hurricane

For the purposes of this section, high wind vulnerability shall be the component analyzed. Flooding and surge events associated with hurricanes are analyzed separately further in this document. Since flooding and surge are covered in detail, the only remaining variable in a hurricane event that needs to be examined are high winds and the community’s vulnerability to them.

Data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System). This system is an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data. Kinetic Analysis Corporation (KAC) created the following DRAFT outputs under contract with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

Historical storms (past 153 years for tropical cyclones and past 50 years) were simulated using the TAOS model, version 10.2.  Winds were computed and hazard zones created based upon these simulations.  Wind layers were created based on percent damage expected.  Additionally, FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data was ingested, and the tabular data sets were run for comparison. (http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html, 2004).

It should also be noted that this TAOS wind data covers the entire county and is not jurisdiction specific. Due to the wide breadth of area this data covers, more detailed information (for example, dollars values) shall be covered in the “Unincorporated Okaloosa County” section below since this section also covers the entire county.

This section shall outline wind speed vulnerability for the city. A summary of the wind velocity vulnerabilities for the City of Niceville is summarized in the table below:

Source: TAOS model data; 2004, http://www.methaz.org/lmsmaps/,

5.4.C Flood

Using DFIRM flood data in a GIS application, 100- and 500-year flood zones were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 13). The City of Niceville has four flood zone types that lie within its borders. They include:

For the purposes of this sub-section on Niceville, Zones ”A”, “AE”, and “VE” have been classified into a broader “100-year flood” category to streamline data analysis. Rather than using the standard methods of classifying 500-year flood zones, FEMA has redesigned the classification of the 500-year flood for the 2004 DFIRM’s by assigning those areas as areas of “0.2 PERCENT ANNUAL CHANCE OF FLOOD” or “Other Food Areas”.  However, for the purposes of this analysis, those areas will be termed 500-year flood for the purposes of this plan.

According to the analysis results, there are 702 parcels of land within the 100-year flood zone in Niceville with a Just Value of $136,609,078 or 19.2% of the Just Value of all of Niceville.

There are 50 identified parcels of land in Niceville that lie within the 500-year flood zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $10,552,044 or 1.5% of the Just Value of all of Niceville. Flooding vulnerability for the City of Niceville is summarized in the following table:

5.4.D Storm Surge

Using digital storm surge data from the United States Army Corps of Engineers in a GIS application, Category 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 storm surge zones (Saffir/Simpson Scale) were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 14). The City of Niceville has all five primary storm surge categories that impact structures within its borders. They include:

According to the analysis results, there are 450 parcels of land within the Category One storm surge zone in Niceville with a Just Value of $103,216,787 or 14.5% of the Just Value of all of Niceville.

There are 538 identified parcels of land in Niceville that lie within the Category Two storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $107,407,044 or 15.1% of the Just Value of all of Niceville.

There are 598 identified parcels of land in Niceville that lie within the Category Three storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $115,626,581 or 16.3% of the Just Value of all of Niceville.

There are 1,534 identified parcels of land in Niceville that lie within the Category Four storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $213,888,737 or 30.1% of the Just Value of all of Gulf Breeze.

There are 1,736 identified parcels of land in Niceville that lie within the Category Five storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $232,208,632 or 32.7% of the Just Value of all of Niceville.

Storm surge vulnerability for the City of Niceville is summarized in the following table:

5.4.E Wildfire

The City of Niceville is vulnerable to approximately $103,101,444 (Just Value) in damages due to “High” wildfire events. Similar to the hurricane data provided above, the data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System); an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data.

Using the same data source from the analysis on Laurel Hill from the Kinetic Analysis Corporation, GIS data depicting wildfire vulnerability were overlaid upon tax parcels whereby values for damage could be assessed (See Appendix 15). The result of the analysis indicates 39.0 percent of the land area in Niceville is vulnerable to low potential for wildfire (See Figure 3). 39.0 percent is considered to be of low potential, 54.0 percent of medium, and 7.0 percent considered high potential.

5.4.F Other Hazards As identified in Chapter Four, there are a number of other hazards that affect Okaloosa County. However, the direct impacts of these hazards in relation to mitigation applications is somewhat negligible, but worth mentioning. These hazards are covered comprehensively for Okaloosa County below in the section “Unincorporated Okaloosa County”. It should also be noted that this analysis covers both incorporated and unincorporated areas due to the broad geographical area the base data covers. 

5.5 City of Valparaiso

5.5.A Community Mitigation Overview

The City of Valparaiso is Okaloosa County’s fifth largest urban area (by residents) with a total population of 6,408 according to Census 2000. There are approximately 2,012 parcels of land in Valparaiso that have a “Just Value” of roughly $535,821,689. For the purposes of this study, “Just Value” is used for estimating monetary damage due to flood hazards. According to the Okaloosa County Property Appraisers Office, Just Value is the value established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem purposes and includes both the structural and land value. Under Florida Law, Just Value has been the term coined for representing Fair Market Value.

The City is located approximately 7 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico.  It is located on a shoreline with its eastern shores adjacent to Boggy Bayou, a tributary to Choctawhatchee Bay.  The City also extends inland away from coastal areas alongside a portion of Eglin Air Force Base and Turkey Creek (the headwaters of Boggy Bayou).  Valparaiso is mostly stable in population as a suburb of the greater Fort Walton Beach/Eglin Air Force Base community.  Several small creeks flow through the City.  Development is highly concentrated, and a number of residential establishments are constructed in hurricane storm surge zones.  Eglin AFB’s large acreage of forested lands abut Niceville, and the urban/rural wildfire interface surrounds the City on much of its western boundaries.

Historical natural occurring disasters or threatened disasters include high winds (hurricane and severe storms), coastal flooding and storm surge, tornadoes, waterspouts, hail, and wildland fires.  Ice or snow may occur at extremely rare intervals, possibly causing traffic or electrical service problems.

There are 6 identified critical facilities in the City of Valparaiso (See Appendix 16). Two of the facilities are spatially located in some form of hazard area other than hurricane, thus making it vulnerable to damage due to hazard events. This information was obtained by overlaying hazard layers onto point locations of critical facilities. Only those facilities vulnerable to “High” wildfire are marked below. A summary of Valparaiso’s vulnerability by specific hazards is given below:

The tri-color prioritization scheme was applied using GIS software to determine general areas or parcels in Valparaiso that require varying levels of mitigation (See Appendix 17). The results of the analysis are detailed in the table below:

5.5.B Hurricane

For the purposes of this section, high wind vulnerability shall be the component analyzed. Flooding and surge events associated with hurricanes are analyzed separately further in this document. Since flooding and surge are covered in detail, the only remaining variable in a hurricane event that needs to be examined are high winds and the community’s vulnerability to them. Data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System). This system is an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data. Kinetic Analysis Corporation (KAC) created the following DRAFT outputs under contract with the Florida Department of Community Affairs. Historical storms (past 153 years for tropical cyclones and past 50 years) were simulated using the TAOS model, version 10.2.  Winds were computed and hazard zones created based upon these simulations.  Wind layers were created based on percent damage expected.  Additionally, FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data was ingested, and the tabular data sets were run for comparison. (http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html, 2004).

It should also be noted that this TAOS wind data covers the entire county and is not jurisdiction specific. Due to the wide breadth of area this data covers, more detailed information (for example, dollars values) shall be covered in the “Unincorporated Okaloosa County” section below since this section also covers the entire county.

This section shall outline wind speed vulnerability for the city. A summary of the wind velocity vulnerabilities for the City of Valparaiso is summarized in the table below:

5.5.C Flood Using DFIRM flood data in a GIS application, 100- and 500-year flood zones were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 18). The City of Valparaiso has four flood zone types that lie within its borders. They include:

For the purposes of this sub-section on Valparaiso, Zones ”A”, “AE”, and “VE” have been classified into a broader “100-year flood” category to streamline data analysis. Rather than using the standard methods of classifying 500-year flood zones, FEMA has redesigned the classification of the 500-year flood for the 2004 DFIRM’s by assigning those areas as areas of “0.2 PERCENT ANNUAL CHANCE OF FLOOD” or “Other Food Areas”.  However, for the purposes of this analysis, those areas will be termed 500-year flood for the purposes of this plan. According to the analysis results, there are 264 parcels of land within the 100-year flood zone in Valparaiso with a Just Value of $65,570,668 or 12.2% of the Just Value of all of Valparaiso.

There are14 identified parcels of land in Valparaiso that lie within the 500-year flood zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $1,633,356 or <1.0% of the Just Value of all of Valparaiso. Flooding vulnerability for the City of Valparaiso is summarized in the following table:

5.5.D Storm Surge

Using digital storm surge data from the United States Army Corps of Engineers in a GIS application, Category 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 storm surge zones (Saffir/Simpson Scale) were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 19). The City of Valparaiso has all five primary storm surge categories that impact structures within its borders. These categories are defined in the above section regarding the City of Niceville.

According to the analysis results, there are 237 parcels of land within the Category One storm surge zone in Valparaiso with a Just Value of $64,911,429 or 12.1% of the Just Value of all of Valparaiso.

There are 237 identified parcels of land in Valparaiso that lie within the Category Two storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $64,069,167 or 12.1% of the Just Value of all of Valparaiso.

There are 277 identified parcels of land in Valparaiso that lie within the Category Three storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $71,212,474 or 13.3% of the Just Value of all of Valparaiso.

There are 535 identified parcels of land in Valparaiso that lie within the Category Four storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $97,056,089 or 18.1% of the Just Value of all of Valparaiso.

There are 700 identified parcels of land in Valparaiso that lie within the Category Five storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $125,112,962 or 23.3% of the Just Value of all of Valparaiso.

Storm surge vulnerability for the City of Valparaiso is summarized in the following table:

5.5.E Wildfire

The City of Valparaiso is vulnerable to approximately $43,348,862 (Just Value) in damages due to “High” wildfire events. Similar to the hurricane data provided above, the data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System); an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data.

Using the same data source from the analysis on Laurel Hill from the Kinetic Analysis Corporation, GIS data depicting wildfire vulnerability were overlaid upon tax parcels whereby values for damage could be assessed (See Appendix 20). The result of the analysis indicates 52.0 percent of the land area in Valparaiso is vulnerable to low potential for wildfire (See Figure 4). 52.0 percent is considered to be of low potential, 41.0 percent of medium, and 7.0 percent considered high potential.

5.5.F Other Hazards

As identified in Chapter Four, there are a number of other hazards that affect Okaloosa County. However, the direct impacts of these hazards in relation to mitigation applications is somewhat negligible, but worth mentioning. These hazards are covered comprehensively for Okaloosa County below in the section “Unincorporated Okaloosa County”. It should also be noted that this analysis covers both incorporated and unincorporated areas due to the broad geographical area the base data covers. 

5.6 Town of Shalimar

5.6.A Community Mitigation Overview

The Town of Shalimar is Okaloosa County’s seventh largest urban area (by residents) with a total population of 718 according to Census 2000. There are approximately 414 parcels of land in Shalimar that have a “Just Value” of roughly $84,453,780. For the purposes of this study, “Just Value” is used for estimating monetary damage due to flood hazards. According to the Okaloosa County Property Appraisers Office, Just Value is the value established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem purposes and includes both the structural and land value. Under Florida Law, Just Value has been the term coined for representing Fair Market Value.

The City is located approximately 4 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico.  It is located on the western side of a peninsula surrounded by Choctawhatchee Bay and Garnier’s Bayou.  The City is never more than one third of a mile from these water bodies.  Although there are residential areas, Shalimar is highly commercialized with marinas, professional consulting agencies, banks, schools, and the Okaloosa County Courthouse Annex (including sheriff’s department, emergency operations center, board of county commissioners chambers, courts, and constitutional officers offices.  Development is highly concentrated, and a number of residential and commercial establishments are constructed in hurricane storm surge zones.  SR 85 is the only highway into and out of the City.

Historical natural occurring disasters or threatened disasters include high winds (hurricane and severe storms), coastal flooding and storm surge, tornadoes, waterspouts, hail, and wildland fires.  Ice or snow may occur at extremely rare intervals, possibly causing traffic or electrical service problems.

There are 7 identified critical facilities in the Town of Shalimar (See Appendix 21). All 7 of the facilities are spatially located in some form of hazard area other than hurricane, thus making it vulnerable to damage due to hazard events. This information was obtained by overlaying hazard layers onto point locations of critical facilities. Only those facilities vulnerable to “High” wildfire are marked below. A summary of Shalimar’s vulnerability by specific hazards is given below:

The tri-color prioritization scheme was applied using GIS software to determine general areas or parcels in Shalimar that require varying levels of mitigation (See Appendix 22). The results of the analysis are detailed in the table below:

5.6.B Hurricane

For the purposes of this section, high wind vulnerability shall be the component analyzed. Flooding and surge events associated with hurricanes are analyzed separately further in this document. Since flooding and surge are covered in detail, the only remaining variable in a hurricane event that needs to be examined are high winds and the community’s vulnerability to them.

Data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System). This system is an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data. Kinetic Analysis Corporation (KAC) created the following DRAFT outputs under contract with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

Historical storms (past 153 years for tropical cyclones and past 50 years) were simulated using the TAOS model, version 10.2.  Winds were computed and hazard zones created based upon these simulations.  Wind layers were created based on percent damage expected.  Additionally, FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data was ingested, and the tabular data sets were run for comparison. (http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html, 2004).

It should also be noted that this TAOS wind data covers the entire county and is not jurisdiction specific. Due to the wide breadth of area this data covers, more detailed information (for example, dollars values) shall be covered in the “Unincorporated Okaloosa County” section below since this section also covers the entire county.

This section shall outline wind speed vulnerability for the town. A summary of the wind velocity vulnerabilities for the Town of Shalimar is summarized in the table below:

Source: TAOS model data; 2004, http://www.methaz.org/lmsmaps/,

5.6.C Flood

Using DFIRM flood data in a GIS application, 100- and 500-year flood zones were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 23). The Town of Shalimar has three flood zone types that lie within its borders. They include:

For the purposes of this sub-section on Shalimar, Zones ”A”, “AE”, and “VE” have been classified into a broader “100-year flood” category to streamline data analysis. Rather than using the standard methods of classifying 500-year flood zones, FEMA has redesigned the classification of the 500-year flood for the 2004 DFIRM’s by assigning those areas as areas of “0.2 PERCENT ANNUAL CHANCE OF FLOOD” or “Other Food Areas”.  However, for the purposes of this analysis, those areas will be termed 500-year flood for the purposes of this plan.

According to the analysis results, there are 215 parcels of land within the 100-year flood zone in Shalimar with a Just Value of $43,252,658 or 51.2% of the Just Value of all of Shalimar. According to the DFIRM data, Shalimar is not affected by 500-year floods. Flooding vulnerability for the Town of Shalimar is summarized in the following table:

5.6.D Storm Surge

Using digital storm surge data from the United States Army Corps of Engineers in a GIS application, Category 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 storm surge zones (Saffir/Simpson Scale) were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 24). The Town of Shalimar has all five primary storm surge categories that impact structures within its borders. These categories are defined in the above section regarding the City of Niceville.

According to the analysis results, there are 140 parcels of land within the Category One storm surge zone in Shalimar with a Just Value of $32,525,320 or 38.5% of the Just Value of all of Shalimar.

There are 159 identified parcels of land in Shalimar that lie within the Category Two storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $33,729,392 or 39.9% of the Just Value of all of Shalimar.

There are 247 identified parcels of land in Shalimar that lie within the Category Three storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $50,101,916 or 59.3% of the Just Value of all of Shalimar.

There are 394 identified parcels of land in Shalimar that lie within the Category Four storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $76,136,056 or 90.2% of the Just Value of all of Shalimar.

There are 414 identified parcels of land in Shalimar that lie within the Category Five storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $84,453,780 or 100.0% of the Just Value of all of Shalimar.

Storm surge vulnerability for the Town of Shalimar is summarized in the following table:

5.6.E Wildfire

The Town of Shalimar is vulnerable to approximately $7,830,592 (Just Value) in damages due to “High” wildfire events. Similar to the hurricane data provided above, the data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System); an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data.

Using the same data source from the analysis on Laurel Hill from the Kinetic Analysis Corporation, GIS data depicting wildfire vulnerability were overlaid upon tax parcels whereby values for damage could be assessed (See Appendix 25). The result of the analysis indicates 72.0 percent of the land area in Valparaiso is vulnerable to low potential for wildfire (See Figure 5). 72.0 percent is considered to be of low potential, 28.0 percent of medium, and <1 percent considered high potential.

5.6.F Other Hazards

As identified in Chapter Four, there are a number of other hazards that affect Okaloosa County. However, the direct impacts of these hazards in relation to mitigation applications is somewhat negligible, but worth mentioning. These hazards are covered comprehensively for Okaloosa County below in the section “Unincorporated Okaloosa County”. It should also be noted that this analysis covers both incorporated and unincorporated areas due to the broad geographical area the base data covers. 

5.7 City of Cinco Bayou

5.7.A Community Mitigation Overview

The City of Cinco Bayou is Okaloosa County’s smallest urban area (by residents) with a total population of 377 according to Census 2000. There are approximately 284 parcels of land in Cinco Bayou that have a “Just Value” of roughly $47,331,748.

For the purposes of this study, “Just Value” is used for estimating monetary damage due to flood hazards. According to the Okaloosa County Property Appraisers Office, Just Value is the value established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem purposes and includes both the structural and land value. Under Florida Law, Just Value has been the term coined for representing Fair Market Value.

The City is located approximately 2 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico.  It is located on the north shore of a peninsula where Cinco Bayou (a branch of Choctawhatchee Bay) serves as its northern boundary.  Cinco Bayou is a part of the Fort Walton Beach urban area and is essentially built out in terms of the potential for new development.  Redevelopment is a distinct possibility following a major disaster event due to the potential for coastal flooding and high wind damage.  Development is highly concentrated, and a number of residential and commercial establishments are constructed in hurricane storm surge zones.  It is difficult to discern the boundaries of Cinco Bayou from the City of Fort Walton Beach since urban development along SR 85 (for example) spans the boundary with no real distinguishing moment of difference (other than a sign marking these boundaries).

Historical natural occurring disasters or threatened disasters include high winds (hurricane and severe storms), coastal flooding and storm surge, tornadoes, waterspouts, hail, and wildland fires.  Ice or snow may occur at extremely rare intervals, possibly causing traffic or electrical service problems.

Information was obtained by overlaying hazardThere are 3 identified critical facilities in the City of Cinco Bayou (See Appendix 26). All three of the facilities are spatially located in some form of hazard area other than hurricane, thus making it vulnerable to damage due to hazard events. This layers onto point locations of critical facilities. Only those facilities vulnerable to “High” wildfire are marked below. A summary of Cinco Bayou’s vulnerability by specific hazards is given below:

The tri-color prioritization scheme was applied using GIS software to determine general areas or parcels in Cinco Bayou that require varying levels of mitigation (See Appendix 27). The results of the analysis are detailed in the table below:

5.7.B Hurricane

For the purposes of this section, high wind vulnerability shall be the component analyzed. Flooding and surge events associated with hurricanes are analyzed separately further in this document. Since flooding and surge are covered in detail, the only remaining variable in a hurricane event that needs to be examined are high winds and the community’s vulnerability to them.

Data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System). This system is an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data. Kinetic Analysis Corporation (KAC) created the following DRAFT outputs under contract with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

Historical storms (past 153 years for tropical cyclones and past 50 years) were simulated using the TAOS model, version 10.2.  Winds were computed and hazard zones created based upon these simulations.  Wind layers were created based on percent damage expected.  Additionally, FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data was ingested, and the tabular data sets were run for comparison. (http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html, 2004).

It should also be noted that this TAOS wind data covers the entire county and is not jurisdiction specific. Due to the wide breadth of area this data covers, more detailed information (for example, dollars values) shall be covered in the “Unincorporated Okaloosa County” section below since this section also covers the entire county.

This section shall outline wind speed vulnerability for the city. A summary of the wind velocity vulnerabilities for the City of Cinco Bayou is summarized in the table below:

ource: TAOS model data; 2004, http://www.methaz.org/lmsmaps/,

5.7.C Flood

Using DFIRM flood data in a GIS application, 100- and 500-year flood zones were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 28). The City of Cinco Bayou has two flood zone types that lie within its borders. They include:

For the purposes of this sub-section on Cinco Bayou, Zones “AE” and “VE” have been classified into a broader “100-year flood” category to streamline data analysis. . Rather than using the standard methods of classifying 500-year flood zones, FEMA has redesigned the classification of the 500-year flood for the 2004 DFIRM’s by assigning those areas as areas of “0.2 PERCENT ANNUAL CHANCE OF FLOOD” or “Other Food Areas”.  However, for the purposes of this analysis, those areas will be termed 500-year flood for the purposes of this plan.

According to the analysis results, there are 112 parcels of land within the 100-year flood zone in Cinco Bayou with a Just Value of $16,673,657 or 35.2% of the Just Value of all of Cinco Bayou. According to the DFIRM data, Cinco Bayou is not affected by 500-year floods. Flooding vulnerability for the City of Cinco Bayou is summarized in the following table:

5.7.D Storm Surge

Using digital storm surge data from the United States Army Corps of Engineers in a GIS application, Category 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 storm surge zones (Saffir/Simpson Scale) were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 29). The City of Cinco Bayou has all five primary storm surge categories that impact structures within its borders. These categories are defined in the above section regarding the City of Niceville. According to the analysis results, there are 182 parcels of land within the Category One storm surge zone in Cinco Bayou with a Just Value of $28,058,268 or 59.3% of the Just Value of all of Cinco Bayou. There are 97 identified parcels of land in Cinco Bayou that lie within the Category Two storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $15,353,974 or 32.4% of the Just Value of all of Cinco Bayou. There are 127 identified parcels of land in Cinco Bayou that lie within the Category Three storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $18,145,069 or 38.3% of the Just Value of all of Cinco Bayou. There are 218 identified parcels of land in Cinco Bayou that lie within the Category Four storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $26,397,725 or 55.8% of the Just Value of all of Cinco Bayou. There are 280 identified parcels of land in Cinco Bayou that lie within the Category Five storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $44,043,744 or 93.1% of the Just Value of all of Cinco Bayou. Storm surge vulnerability for the City of Cinco Bayou is summarized in the following table:

5.7.E Wildfire

The City of Cinco Bayou is not deemed to be vulnerable to damages due to “High” wildfire events. Similar to the hurricane data provided above, the data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System); an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data.

Using the same data source from the analysis on Laurel Hill from the Kinetic Analysis Corporation, GIS data depicting wildfire vulnerability were overlaid upon tax parcels whereby values for damage could be assessed (See Appendix 30). The result of the analysis indicates 81.0 percent of the land area in Cinco Bayou is vulnerable to low potential for wildfire (See Figure 6). 81.0 percent is considered to be of low potential, 19.0 percent of medium, and none considered high potential.

5.7.F Other Hazards As identified in Chapter Four, there are a number of other hazards that affect Okaloosa County. However, the direct impacts of these hazards in relation to mitigation applications is somewhat negligible, but worth mentioning. These hazards are covered comprehensively for Okaloosa County below in the section “Unincorporated Okaloosa County”. It should also be noted that this analysis covers both incorporated and unincorporated areas due to the broad geographical area the base data covers.  

5.8 City of Mary Esther

5.8.A Community Mitigation Overview

The City of Mary Esther is Okaloosa County’s sixth largest urban area (by residents) with a total population of 4,055 according to Census 2000. There are approximately 1,995 parcels of land in Mary Esther that have a “Just Value” of roughly $307,206,853. For the purposes of this study, “Just Value” is used for estimating monetary damage due to flood hazards. According to the Okaloosa County Property Appraisers Office, Just Value is the value established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem purposes and includes both the structural and land value. Under Florida Law, Just Value has been the term coined for representing Fair Market Value.

The City is located approximately ¾ mile north of the Gulf of Mexico.  It is located along The Narrows of Santa Rosa Sound, a salt-water backwater lagoon between Santa Rosa Island (the barrier island separating Mary Esther from the Gulf of Mexico).  The City runs parallel to the shoreline of Santa Rosa Sound and slightly inland about ¾ of a mile.  The City of Fort Walton Beach surrounds the northern and eastern portions of the City, and Eglin Air Force Base/Hurlburt Field adjoins the western boundary.  Mary Esther is mostly built out in terms of new development and population growth.   Development is highly concentrated, and a number of residential and commercial establishments are constructed in hurricane storm surge zones.  Historical natural occurring disasters or threatened disasters include extreme vulnerability to high winds (hurricane and severe storms), coastal flooding and storm surge, tornadoes, waterspouts, hail, and wildland fires.  Ice or snow may occur at extremely rare intervals, possibly causing traffic or electrical service problems. There are 2 identified critical facilities in the City of Mary Esther (See Appendix 31). Both of the facilities are spatially located only in hurricane hazard areas, thus making it vulnerable to damage due to hazard events. This information was obtained by overlaying hazard layers onto point locations of critical facilities. Only those facilities vulnerable to “High” wildfire are marked below. A summary of Mary Esther’s vulnerability by specific hazards is given below:

The tri-color prioritization scheme was applied using GIS software to determine general areas or parcels in Mary Esther that require varying levels of mitigation (See Appendix 32). The results of the analysis are detailed in the table below:

5.8.B Hurricane

For the purposes of this section, high wind vulnerability shall be the component analyzed. Flooding and surge events associated with hurricanes are analyzed separately further in this document. Since flooding and surge are covered in detail, the only remaining variable in a hurricane event that needs to be examined are high winds and the community’s vulnerability to them.

Data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System). This system is an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data. Kinetic Analysis Corporation (KAC) created the following DRAFT outputs under contract with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

Historical storms (past 153 years for tropical cyclones and past 50 years) were simulated using the TAOS model, version 10.2.  Winds were computed and hazard zones created based upon these simulations.  Wind layers were created based on percent damage expected.  Additionally, FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data was ingested, and the tabular data sets were run for comparison. (http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html, 2004).

It should also be noted that this TAOS wind data covers the entire county and is not jurisdiction specific. Due to the wide breadth of area this data covers, more detailed information (for example, dollars values) shall be covered in the “Unincorporated Okaloosa County” section below since this section also covers the entire county.

This section shall outline wind speed vulnerability for the city. A summary of the wind velocity vulnerabilities for the City of Mary Esther is summarized in the table below:

Source: TAOS model data; 2004, http://www.methaz.org/lmsmaps/,

5.8.C Flood

Using DFIRM flood data in a GIS application, 100-year flood zones were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 33). The City of Mary Esther has three flood zone types that lie within its borders. They include:

For the purposes of this sub-section on Mary Esther, Zones “A”, “AE”, and “VE” have been classified into a broader “100-year flood” category to streamline data analysis. . Rather than using the standard methods of classifying 500-year flood zones, FEMA has redesigned the classification of the 500-year flood for the 2004 DFIRM’s by assigning those areas as areas of “0.2 PERCENT ANNUAL CHANCE OF FLOOD” or “Other Food Areas”.  However, for the purposes of this analysis, those areas will be termed 500-year flood for the purposes of this plan. According to the analysis results, there are 290 parcels of land within the 100-year flood zone in Mary Esther with a Just Value of $56,505,964 or 18.4% of the Just Value of all of Mary Esther. According to the DFIRM data, Mary Esther is not affected by 500-year floods. Flooding vulnerability for the City of Mary Esther is summarized in the following table:

5.8.D Storm Surge

Using digital storm surge data from the United States Army Corps of Engineers in a GIS application, Category 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 storm surge zones (Saffir/Simpson Scale) were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 34). The City of Mary Esther has all five primary storm surge categories that impact structures within its borders. These categories are defined in the above section regarding the City of Niceville.

According to the analysis results, there are 228 parcels of land within the Category One storm surge zone in Mary Esther with a Just Value of $37,125,671 or 12.1% of the Just Value of all of Mary Esther.

There are 261 identified parcels of land in Mary Esther that lie within the Category Two storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $45,625,574 or 14.9% of the Just Value of all of Mary Esther.

There are 384 identified parcels of land in Mary Esther that lie within the Category Four storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $89,811,004 or 29.2% of the Just Value of all of Mary Esther.

There are 492 identified parcels of land in Mary Esther that lie within the Category Five storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $103,571,259 or 33.7% of the Just Value of all of Mary Esther.

Storm surge vulnerability for the City of Mary Esther is summarized in the following table:

5.8.E Wildfire

The City of Mary Esther is vulnerable to approximately $73,750,343 (Just Value) in damages due to “High” wildfire events. Similar to the hurricane data provided above, the data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System); an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data.

Using the same data source from the analysis on Laurel Hill from the Kinetic Analysis Corporation, GIS data depicting wildfire vulnerability were overlaid upon tax parcels whereby values for damage could be assessed (See Appendix 35). The result of the analysis indicates 63.0 percent of the land area in Mary Esther is vulnerable to low potential for wildfire (See Figure 7). 63.0 percent is considered to be of low potential, 29.0 percent of medium, and 8.1 percent considered high potential.

5.8.F Other Hazards As identified in Chapter Four, there are a number of other hazards that affect Okaloosa County. However, the direct impacts of these hazards in relation to mitigation applications is somewhat negligible, but worth mentioning. These hazards are covered comprehensively for Okaloosa County below in the section “Unincorporated Okaloosa County”. It should also be noted that this analysis covers both incorporated and unincorporated areas due to the broad geographical area the base data covers.

5.9 City of Fort Walton Beach

5.9.A Community Mitigation Overview

The City of Fort Walton Beach is Okaloosa County’s largest urban area (by residents) with a total population of 19,973 according to Census 2000. There are approximately 10,006 parcels of land in Fort Walton Beach that have a “Just Value” of roughly $1,880,812,414. For the purposes of this study, “Just Value” is used for estimating monetary damage due to flood hazards. According to the Okaloosa County Property Appraisers Office, Just Value is the value established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem purposes and includes both the structural and land value. Under Florida Law, Just Value has been the term coined for representing Fair Market Value. 

The City is located approximately ½ mile north of the Gulf of Mexico.  It is located along The Narrows of Santa Rosa Sound, a salt water backwater lagoon between Santa Rosa Island (the barrier island separating Mary Esther from the Gulf of Mexico), along Choctawhatchee Bay, and Cinco Bayou.  Additionally, a separated portion of the City is located 3 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico in a non-coastal, upland environment. The City runs parallel to the shoreline of Santa Rosa Sound and inland some two miles.  The City of Mary Esther forms part of the western and southern boundary.  The City of Cinco Bayou also forms a boundary along the northern shore of Cinco Bayou itself. Eglin Air Force Base also adjoins boundaries of the City.  Fort Walton Beach is mostly built out in terms of new development and population growth.   Development is highly concentrated, and a number of residential and commercial establishments are constructed in hurricane storm surge zones, including downtown’s central business district.

From a mitigation management perspective, difficulties may be encountered identifying where Fort Walton Beach’s boundaries are located as it relates to the urbanized areas of unincorporated Ocean City and Wright (administered by Okaloosa County).

Historical natural occurring disasters or threatened disasters include extreme vulnerability to high winds (hurricane and severe storms), coastal flooding and storm surge, tornadoes, waterspouts, hail, and wildland fires.  Storm surge has severely damaged US 98.  Flooding of major buildings, such as City Hall, has occurred.  Ice or snow may occur at extremely rare intervals, possibly causing traffic or electrical service problems.

There are 10 identified critical facilities in the City of Fort Walton Beach (See Appendix 36). All of the facilities are spatially located in some form of hazard area other than hurricane, thus making it vulnerable to damage due to hazard events. This information was obtained by overlaying hazard layers onto point locations of critical facilities. Only those facilities vulnerable to “High” wildfire are marked below. A summary of Fort Walton Beach’s vulnerability by specific hazards is given below:

The tri-color prioritization scheme was applied using GIS software to determine general areas or parcels in Fort Walton Beach that require varying levels of mitigation (See Appendix 37). The results of the analysis are detailed in the table below:

5.9.B Hurricane

For the purposes of this section, high wind vulnerability shall be the component analyzed. Flooding and surge events associated with hurricanes are analyzed separately further in this document. Since flooding and surge are covered in detail, the only remaining variable in a hurricane event that needs to be examined are high winds and the community’s vulnerability to them.

Data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System). This system is an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data. Kinetic Analysis Corporation (KAC) created the following DRAFT outputs under contract with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

Historical storms (past 153 years for tropical cyclones and past 50 years) were simulated using the TAOS model, version 10.2.  Winds were computed and hazard zones created based upon these simulations.  Wind layers were created based on percent damage expected.  Additionally, FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data was ingested, and the tabular data sets were run for comparison. (http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html, 2004).

It should also be noted that this TAOS wind data covers the entire county and is not jurisdiction specific. Due to the wide breadth of area this data covers, more detailed information (for example, dollars values) shall be covered in the “Unincorporated Okaloosa County” section below since this section also covers the entire county.

This section shall outline wind speed vulnerability for the city. A summary of the wind velocity vulnerabilities for the City of Fort Walton Beach is summarized in the table below:

Source: TAOS model data; 2004, http://www.methaz.org/lmsmaps/,

5.9.C Flood

Using DFIRM flood data in a GIS application, 100-year flood zones were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 38). The City of Fort Walton Beach has two flood zone types that lie within its borders. They include:

For the purposes of this sub-section on Fort Walton Beach, Zones “AE”, and “VE” have been classified into a broader “100-year flood” category to streamline data analysis. . Rather than using the standard methods of classifying 500-year flood zones, FEMA has redesigned the classification of the 500-year flood for the 2004 DFIRM’s by assigning those areas as areas of “0.2 PERCENT ANNUAL CHANCE OF FLOOD” or “Other Food Areas”.  However, for the purposes of this analysis, those areas will be termed 500-year flood for the purposes of this plan. According to the analysis results, there are 1,267 parcels of land within the 100-year flood zone in of Fort Walton Beach with a Just Value of $221,650,678 or 11.8% of the Just Value of all of Fort Walton Beach. According to the DFIRM data, Fort Walton Beach is not affected by 500-year floods. Flooding vulnerability for the City of Fort Walton Beach is summarized in the following table:

5.9.D Storm Surge

Using digital storm surge data from the United States Army Corps of Engineers in a GIS application, Category 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 storm surge zones (Saffir/Simpson Scale) were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 39). The City of Fort Walton Beach has all five primary storm surge categories that impact structures within its borders. These categories are defined in the above section regarding the City of Niceville.

According to the analysis results, there are 1,016 parcels of land within the Category One storm surge zone in Fort Walton Beach with a Just Value of $192,371,679 or 10.2% of the Just Value of all of Fort Walton Beach.

There are 1,119 identified parcels of land in Fort Walton Beach that lie within the Category Two storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $203,207,977 or 10.8% of the Just Value of all of Fort Walton Beach.

There are 1,595 identified parcels of land in Fort Walton Beach that lie within the Category Three storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $254,941,340 or 13.6% of the Just Value of all of Fort Walton Beach.

There are 3,586 identified parcels of land in Fort Walton Beach that lie within the Category Four storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $439,057,213 or 23.3% of the Just Value of all of Fort Walton Beach.

There are 5,321 identified parcels of land in Fort Walton Beach that lie within the Category Five storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $637,604,312 or 34.0% of the Just Value of all of Fort Walton Beach.

Storm surge vulnerability for the City of Fort Walton Beach is summarized in the following table:

5.9.E Wildfire

The City of Fort Walton Beach is vulnerable to approximately $363,335,846 (Just Value) in damages due to “High” wildfire events. Similar to the hurricane data provided above, the data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System); an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data.

Using the same data source from the analysis on Laurel Hill from the Kinetic Analysis Corporation, GIS data depicting wildfire vulnerability were overlaid upon tax parcels whereby values for damage could be assessed (See Appendix 40). The result of the analysis indicates 69.0 percent of the land area in Fort Walton Beach is vulnerable to low potential for wildfire (See Figure 8). 69.0 percent is considered to be of low potential, 21.0 percent of medium, and 10.0 percent considered high potential.

5.9.F Other Hazards

As identified in Chapter Four, there are a number of other hazards that affect Okaloosa County. However, the direct impacts of these hazards in relation to mitigation applications is somewhat negligible, but worth mentioning. These hazards are covered comprehensively for Okaloosa County below in the section “Unincorporated Okaloosa County”. It should also be noted that this analysis covers both incorporated and unincorporated areas due to the broad geographical area the base data covers. 

5.10 City of Destin

5.10.A Community Mitigation Overview

The City of Destin is Okaloosa County’s fourth largest urban area (by residents) with a total population of 11,119 according to Census 2000. There are approximately 13,953 parcels of land in Destin that have a “Just Value” of roughly $3,304,045,140.

For the purposes of this study, “Just Value” is used for estimating monetary damage due to flood hazards. According to the Okaloosa County Property Appraisers Office, Just Value is the value established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem purposes and includes both the structural and land value. Under Florida Law, Just Value has been the term coined for representing Fair Market Value.

The City is located directly on the Gulf of Mexico and Choctawhatchee Bay.  The City is positioned on a two-mile wide peninsula (also called Moreno Point).  The City runs parallel to the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico and Choctawhatchee Bay and is surrounded on three sides by these bodies of water.  Destin is mostly rapidly growing in terms of new development, re-development and population growth and may be approaching build out.  However, condominium development is expanding the population skyward, and usually directly on the Gulf of Mexico.   Development is highly concentrated, and a number of residential and commercial establishments are constructed in hurricane storm surge zones.  The City of Destin 2010 Comprehensive Plan is still under review by the Department of Community Affairs. The plan proposed will increase densities city-wide. Since the plan has not yet been found fully in compliance by the DCA, the effects of the proposed densities are not being considered at the time of the updates to this plan.

From a mitigation management perspective, portions of Moreno Point, especially east of Indian Bayou and north of US 98, are located in unincorporated Okaloosa County.  Additionally, the name “Destin” is applied in postal addresses to an area of unincorporated Walton County.  The City has no jurisdiction over either of these areas.

Historical natural occurring disasters or threatened disasters include extreme vulnerability to high winds (hurricane and severe storms), coastal flooding and storm surge, tornadoes, waterspouts, hail, and wildland fires.  Storm surge has severely damaged US 98 and roads near beaches.  Ice or snow may occur at extremely rare intervals, possibly causing traffic or electrical service problems.

There are 7 identified critical facilities in the City of Destin (See Appendix 41). All of the facilities are spatially located in some form of hazard area other than hurricane, thus making it vulnerable to damage due to hazard events. This information was obtained by overlaying hazard layers onto point locations of critical facilities. Only those facilities vulnerable to “High” wildfire are marked below. A summary of Destin’s vulnerability by specific hazards is given below:

The tri-color prioritization scheme was applied using GIS software to determine general areas or parcels in Destin that require varying levels of mitigation (See Appendix 42). The results of the analysis are detailed in the table below:

5.10.B Hurricane

For the purposes of this section, high wind vulnerability shall be the component analyzed. Flooding and surge events associated with hurricanes are analyzed separately further in this document. Since flooding and surge are covered in detail, the only remaining variable in a hurricane event that needs to be examined are high winds and the community’s vulnerability to them.

Data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System). This system is an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data. Kinetic Analysis Corporation (KAC) created the following DRAFT outputs under contract with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

Historical storms (past 153 years for tropical cyclones and past 50 years) were simulated using the TAOS model, version 10.2.  Winds were computed and hazard zones created based upon these simulations.  Wind layers were created based on percent damage expected.  Additionally, FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data was ingested, and the tabular data sets were run for comparison. (http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html, 2004).

It should also be noted that this TAOS wind data covers the entire county and is not jurisdiction specific. Due to the wide breadth of area this data covers, more detailed information (for example, dollars values) shall be covered in the “Unincorporated Okaloosa County” section below since this section also covers the entire county.

This section shall outline wind speed vulnerability for the city. A summary of the wind velocity vulnerabilities for City of Destin is summarized in the table below:

Source: TAOS model data; 2004, http://www.methaz.org/lmsmaps/,

5.10.C Flood

Using DFIRM flood data in a GIS application, 100-year flood zones were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 43). The City of Destin has three flood zone types that lie within its borders. They include:

For the purposes of this sub-section on Destin, Zones “A”, “AE”, and “VE” have been classified into a broader “100-year flood” category to streamline data analysis. . Rather than using the standard methods of classifying 500-year flood zones, FEMA has redesigned the classification of the 500-year flood for the 2004 DFIRM’s by assigning those areas as areas of “0.2 PERCENT ANNUAL CHANCE OF FLOOD” or “Other Food Areas”.  However, for the purposes of this analysis, those areas will be termed 500-year flood for the purposes of this plan. According to the analysis results, there are 6,787 parcels of land within the 100-year flood zone in of Destin with a Just Value of $1,933,073,198 or 59.0% of the Just Value of all of Destin. According to the DFIRM data, Destin is not affected by 500-year floods. Flooding vulnerability for the City of Destin is summarized in the following table:

5.10.D Storm Surge Using digital storm surge data from the United States Army Corps of Engineers in a GIS application, Category 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 storm surge zones (Saffir/Simpson Scale) were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 44). The City of Fort Walton Beach has all five primary storm surge categories that impact structures within its borders. These categories are defined in the above section regarding the City of Niceville.

According to the analysis results, there are 5,367 parcels of land within the Category One storm surge zone in Destin with a Just Value of $1,648,490,532 or 49.9% of the Just Value of all of Destin.

There are 6,007 identified parcels of land in Destin that lie within the Category Two storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $1,751,612,367 or 53.0% of the Just Value of all of Destin.

There are 6,414 identified parcels of land in Destin that lie within the Category Three storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $1,853,993,674 or 56.1% of the Just Value of all of Destin.

There are 7,966 identified parcels of land in Destin that lie within the Category Four storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $2,230,789,901 or 67.5% of the Just Value of all of Destin.

There are 13,953 identified parcels of land Destin that lie within the Category Five storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $3,304,045,140 or 100.0% of the Just Value of all of Destin.

Storm surge vulnerability for the City of Destin is summarized in the following table:

5.10.E Wildfire

The City of Destin is vulnerable to approximately $717,979,757 (Just Value) in damages due to “High” wildfire events. Similar to the hurricane data provided above, the data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System); an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data.

Using the same data source from the analysis on Laurel Hill from the Kinetic Analysis Corporation, GIS data depicting wildfire vulnerability were overlaid upon tax parcels whereby values for damage could be assessed (See Appendix 45). The result of the analysis indicates 68.0 percent of the land area in Destin is vulnerable to low potential for wildfire (See Figure 9). 68.0 percent is considered to be of low potential, 26.0 percent of medium, and 6.0 percent considered high potential.

5.10.F Other Hazards As identified in Chapter Four, there are a number of other hazards that affect Okaloosa County. However, the direct impacts of these hazards in relation to mitigation applications is somewhat negligible, but worth mentioning. These hazards are covered comprehensively for Okaloosa County below in the section “Unincorporated Okaloosa County”. It should also be noted that this analysis covers both incorporated and unincorporated areas due to the broad geographical area the base data covers. 

5.11 Unincorporated Okaloosa County

5.11.A Community Mitigation Overview

The unincorporated areas of Okaloosa County house the largest concentration of residents with a total population of 100,849 according to Census 2000. There are approximately 47,872 parcels of land in the unincorporated areas that have a “Just Value” of roughly $6,797,628,659.

For the purposes of this study, “Just Value” is used for estimating monetary damage due to flood hazards. According to the Okaloosa County Property Appraisers Office, Just Value is the value established by the Property Appraiser for ad valorem purposes and includes both the structural and land value. Under Florida Law, Just Value has been the term coined for representing Fair Market Value.  

The County is located directly on the Gulf of Mexico Choctawhatchee Bay, and Santa Rosa Sound.  Well over one half of the total population of the County lives within five miles of these water bodies.  Due to the presence of Eglin Air Force Base, most of this population is geographically constricted to living pockets of non-federal lands that is located mostly as enclaves or in between the municipalities.  Unincorporated communities in South Okaloosa County include Ocean City, Wright, Wynnehaven Beach, Seashore Village, Bluewater Bay, Niceville, Shalimar, Seminole, Okaloosa Island and portions of the Destin area.  All areas have a coastal component (located on bayous, the bay, or Gulf of Mexico).  Only Okaloosa Island (an unincorporated coastal resort community located on Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island located between Destin and the Okaloosa/Santa Rosa County line) is located directly on the Gulf of Mexico.  The Destin area’s unincorporated are separated from the Gulf of Mexico by a portion of incorporated Destin.  Storm surge, coastal flooding, hurricane force winds, tornadoes, hail, and other hazards are prevalent hazards in these areas.  .  Additionally, development creates stormwater management issues which can lead to flooding in locations where flooding would not naturally be a problem.

Okaloosa County also has a significant portion of unincorporated land that is federally owned as a part of Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field.  About 45% of Okaloosa County is federally owned and under military control.  Utilities and public infrastructure, housing, research facilities, aircraft operations, and other components on the bases are federally controlled.  However, these areas are equally vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters, particularly flooding, storm surge, and hurricanes, as other coastal areas of the County.  Of note is the ownership of much of Santa Rosa Island is under military control.  Limited development is located in this area that supports the missions of Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field.  Santa Rosa Island is primarily managed by the military as a restricted access undeveloped area, with construction limited to communications infrastructure and an access roadway.  The County does not control mitigation activities in most military areas, perhaps with one major exception.  The Okaloosa County Airport Terminal operations share runways with Eglin Air Force Base.  The terminal is located on federal property leased to Okaloosa County.  It includes complete civilian boarding operations.

North Okaloosa County includes the municipalities of Crestview and Laurel Hill.  Outside of the incorporated boundaries are thousands of homes and hundreds of businesses, primarily in the Crestview area.  Unincorporated communities include Holt, Baker, Milligan, Deerland, Auburn, Blackman, Escambia Farms, Rock Creek, Svea, and Dorcas.  Of these communities, Milligan is the most flood prone area.  Otherwise, all are vulnerable to disasters such as high winds/hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, and similar weather features.  Ice and snow are very rare events that could impact roadways and power lines inconsistently over a period of decades. 

The northern boundary of Eglin Air Force Base is bordered by the Yellow and Shoal Rivers, and Titi Creek.  Beyond these creeks, a combination of privately and publicly held lands dominate the majority of North Okaloosa County.  The Northwest Florida Water Management District owns much of the Yellow and Shoal River floodplains.  Additionally, Blackwater River State Forest manages some 15% of the County as multi-purpose recreational and timber production lands.  These two public land agencies essentially mitigate the potential of riverside homes from being developed, thus reducing the amount of flood damage potential.  However, hundreds of miles of stream courses and many acres of floodplains exist outside of these areas.  In these areas, there is the possibility of mitigation activities being needed for flood prevention.  Additionally, development creates stormwater management issues which can lead to flooding in locations where flooding would not naturally be a problem.

From a mitigation management perspective, Okaloosa County is vast and varied.  It ranges from heavily urbanized areas (both north and south Okaloosa) to rural locations where residents are isolated (primarily North Okaloosa).  Income levels vary substantially from neighborhood to neighborhood, and in some locations neighbor to neighbor.  Coordination of mitigation activities with the desires of municipal governments is essential in developing a consistent effort.

There are 64 identified critical facilities in Unincorporated Okaloosa County. A full listing of all critical facilities is provided in Appendix 46. Twelve of the facilities are spatially located in some form of hazard area other than hurricane, thus making it vulnerable to damage due to hazard events. This information was obtained by overlaying hazard layers onto point locations of critical facilities. Only those facilities vulnerable to “High” wildfire are marked below. A summary of the unincorporated area’s vulnerability by specific hazards is given below:

The tri-color prioritization scheme was applied using GIS software to determine general areas or parcels in unincorporated Okaloosa County that require varying levels of mitigation (See Appendix 47). It should be noted that the results of the analysis were derived by totaling all red, yellow and blue areas parcels in the incorporated areas and subtracting these numbers from the total red, yellow, and blue parcels for the entire county. The map depicts those areas in which the color scheme applies. The remainder of the county not shown is considered “low” or “blue” priority areas. The results of the analysis are detailed in the table below:

5.11.B Hurricane

For the purposes of this section, high wind vulnerability shall be the component analyzed. Flooding and surge events associated with hurricanes are analyzed separately further in this document. Since flooding and surge are covered in detail, the only remaining variable in a hurricane event that needs to be examined are high winds and the community’s vulnerability to them.

Data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System). This system is an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data. Kinetic Analysis Corporation created the following DRAFT outputs under contract with the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

Historical storms (past 153 years for tropical cyclones and past 50 years) were simulated using the TAOS model, version 10.2.  Winds were computed and hazard zones created based upon these simulations.  Wind layers were created based on percent damage expected.  Additionally, FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data was ingested, and the tabular data sets were run for comparison. http://stellarcom.methaz.org/lmsmaps/methodqr.html, 2004).

It should also be noted that this TAOS wind data covers the entire county and is not jurisdiction specific. Due to the wide breadth of geographic area this data covers, more detailed information will be covered in section since this section also covers the entire county. Building counts and values are also included in this section according to each respective wind category.

This table shall outline wind speed vulnerability for buildings in the entire county by hurricane categories. A summary of the wind velocity vulnerabilities is below:

Source: TAOS model data; 2004, http://www.methaz.org/lmsmaps/

When coupling the above data with the recurrence intervals of hurricane events as outlined below, a more detailed picture becomes apparent. The recurrence intervals and correlating damage values are expressed in the table below:

Source: TAOS model data; 2004, http://www.methaz.org/lmsmaps/

5.11.C Flood

Note: The land use information below includes the incorporated areas to streamline analysis for all incorporated areas. This method was chosen due to the fact that only a slight few of the incorporated areas in the county have readily available existing land use data. However, future land use data for the entire county was readily available.

Using DFIRM flood data in a GIS application, 100- and 500-year flood zones were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 48). Okaloosa County has six primary flood zone types that lie within its borders. They include:

For the purposes of this section on Okaloosa County, Zone “A”, “AE”, and “VE” have been classified into a broader “100-year flood” cohort to streamline data analysis. The “OTHER FLOODS AREAS” has been designated as the broader “500-year flood”.

There are 9,331 and 1,773 identified parcels of land in unincorporated area that lie within the 100- and 500-year flood zone, respectively. Those parcels in the 100-year flood zone have a Just Value of approximately $1,754,076,988 or 15.1% of all the Just Value of unincorporated Okaloosa County. The 500-year flood zone houses $276,689,608 or 2.3% of the Just Value of all of unincorporated Okaloosa County. Flooding vulnerability for unincorporated Okaloosa County is summarized in the following table:

When one correlates flood zone data to Future Land Use for unincorporated Okaloosa County, a more distinct image becomes apparent as to land use impacts to this type of natural hazard. The following table serves to “fine tune” flood data listed above. The data is as follows:

Note: The values expressed in yellow indicate the highest categorical values per flood event.

City land uses rank, by far, as the top land use category vulnerable to 100-year flood events. It should be noted that the city areas located on the coastal beachfront house the largest density of population in the county. This density can also be attributed to the large number of condominiums that dot the beach face. Island land use composes the largest amount of Just Value vulnerability when examining 500-year events.

5.11.D Storm Surge

Note: The land use information below includes the incorporated areas to streamline analysis for all incorporated areas. This method was chosen due to the fact that only a slight few of the incorporated areas in the county have readily available existing land use data. However, future land use data for the entire county was readily available.

Using digital storm surge data from the United States Army Corps of Engineers in a GIS application, Category 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 storm surge zones (Saffir/Simpson Scale) were overlaid on tax parcels to determine extent of potential damage (See Appendix 49). The unincorporated areas have all five primary storm surge categories that impact structures within its borders. These categories are defined in the above sections regarding the incorporated areas.

According to the analysis results, there are 874 parcels of land within the Category One storm surge zone in unincorporated areas with a Just Value of $183,871,797or 2.7% of the Just Value of all of unincorporated areas.

There are 2,307 identified parcels of land in the unincorporated areas that lie within the Category Two storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $460,233,640 or 6.7% of the Just Value of all of the unincorporated areas.

There are 4,893 identified parcels of land in the unincorporated areas that lie within the Category Three storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $898,795,424 or 13.2% of the Just Value of all of the unincorporated areas.

There are 14,409 identified parcels of land in the unincorporated areas that lie within the Category Four storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $2,203,793,201 or 32.4% of the Just Value of all of the unincorporated areas.

There are 36,716 identified parcels of land in the unincorporated areas that lie within the Category Five storm surge zone. These parcels have a Just Value of approximately $3,957,218,873 or 58.2% of the Just Value of all of the unincorporated areas.

Storm surge vulnerability for unincorporated Okaloosa County is summarized in the following table. It should be noted that these figures are representative of the unincorporated areas only.

When data storm surge data is coupled with future land use categories for the unincorporated areas, one gets a clearer idea of specific sectors of the community that could be the most impacted by increasing degrees of storm surge activity. For the purposes of this section, Just Values were correlated with storm surge zones by utilizing GIS technology. The parcels were then categorized and placed in the following table for better analysis based upon the existing land use classification scheme used by the Okaloosa County. The table is as follows:

Note: The values expressed in yellow indicate the highest categorical values per storm surge.

Based upon the data above, City land use composes the highest Just Value category for threat under a Category One storm surge (and all surge categories) in unincorporated Okaloosa County at $626,739,310. The second and third largest land uses vulnerable under this surge category include Mixed Use 1 ($62,888,160) and Low Density Residential properties ($58,302,475), respectively.

City land also composes the largest amount of territory under threat from a Category Two storm surge with a Just Value of $930,081,090. The second and third largest land use categories falling within this surge category include Low Density Residential ($142,674,090) and Mixed Use 1 ($117,859,053) uses, respectively.

Under a Category Three surge event, City land use ($1,446,349,838) again is the largest sector of land use hit the hardest. Similar to the Category Two surge event, Low Density Residential ($252,017,151) and Mixed Use 1 ($187,582,369) land uses compose the second and third largest categories affected by this level of surge, respectively.

When analyzing vulnerability during a Category Four surge event, one finds a similar pattern as to that under a Category One event. City land use, again, composes the largest area of affected land ($2,464,706,696) during this level of surge event. However, now Island is the second largest category with a Just Value of $625,844,739 and Low Density Residential properties the third largest with a Just Value of $528,140,568.

Finally, under a Category Five event, the largest land use affected is City land use ($4,251,134,202). Ranking second is Low Density Residential with a Just Value of $680,748,621. Ranking third are Island designated uses with a Just Value of $625,844,739.

In summary, when analyzing all categories of storm surge, the most obvious existing land use categories to be vulnerable to storm surge are City, Low Density Residential, Mixed Use 1, and Island land uses. However, being that this section is concentrating on unincorporated areas, if one excludes City uses, other high values affected by surge that would demand considerable mitigation attention include Urban Mixed Use and Mixed Use 2. Another consideration for the heavy weighting toward city uses is the significant condominium presence. One condominium building can hold as many as 100 units; each unit being recorded as one parcel in the property appraiser’s database. This situation provides for multiple units on one parcels of land. It should also be noted that the above values were for all areas in Okaloosa County including cities and other incorporated urban environments; thus the high values and heavy weighting towards more City uses in this section.

5.11.E Wildfire

Unincorporated Okaloosa County is vulnerable to approximately $364,202,509 (Just Value) in damages due to wildfire events. Similar to the hurricane data provided above, the data used in this section was obtained from MEMPHIS (Mapping for Emergency Management, Parallel Hazard Information System); an experimental web based system that allows emergency managers to easily access a variety of hazard related data.

Using the same methodology as the analysis on the above sections, GIS data depicting wildfire vulnerability were overlaid upon tax parcels whereby values for damage could be assessed (See Appendix 50). The result of the analysis indicates forty nine percent of the land area in county is vulnerable to medium potential for wildfire (See Figure 10). Subsequently, forty six percent is considered to be low potential and five percent considered high.

Similar to the section on the City of Milton, Future Land Use data is available for the unincorporated county, allowing for a clearer picture of what land uses that are on the ground today are vulnerable to wildfire. Coupling this land use data with the wildfire information, wildfire vulnerability by land use can be forecast. The summary of Future Land Use correlating with wildfire potential is offered in the table below:

Note: The values expressed in yellow indicate the highest categorical values per potential risk.

Out of low and medium categories of wildfire potential, City land use leads with the largest Just Value amounts. Eglin AFB land use ranks highest for high potential of wildfire vulnerability. Other categories that also generally ranked highest out of all three categories and should also be acknowledged for mitigation would include Low Density Residential, Commercial, and both Mixed Use Categories. It should also be noted that the above values were for all areas in Okaloosa County including cities and other incorporated urban environments; thus the high values and heavy weighting towards more City uses in this section.

5..11.F Other Hazards

The location of dams is equally important to community safety and mitigation planning. FEMA and DMA2K documentation acknowledge dam safety as being a necessary component of sound mitigation planning. Okaloosa County has 87 registered dams in the county (incorporated and unincorporated areas). Of these 87 dams, 4 should be considered for mitigation attention (See chart below). The Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) has a permit system that allows registration and tracking of all dams in the county. The specific dams and their respective vulnerability are below:

It is believed that dams are not vulnerable to wildfire events and have not been included in this study. Moreover, as stated above, hurricane winds affects the entire county, so all dams are vulnerable to high wind velocity by default. As noted above, there is one dam vulnerable to solely flood events, while the other three are vulnerable to both surge and flood. This information was obtained by overlaying GIS layers for flood and surge over dam locations and extracting those dams that would be vulnerable.

A map of the generalized location of the all of the dams in the County is included below. The source of the information is the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), National Inventory of Dams. The map depicts only one location that is classified as a high hazard. The Stafford Dam is the only categorized as such. Though the information differs from the other sources, it has been included to show that data sources use different criteria to track specific regulatory oversight issues. 

With the National Dam Inspection Act of 1972, Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to inventory dams located in the United States. The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 authorized USACE to maintain and periodically publish an updated National Inventory of Dams (NID). The Water Resources Development Act of 1996 re-authorized periodic update of the NID by USACE, and continued a funding mechanism.

The current NID is the result of this evolutionary process. The USACE continues to work closely with the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO), FEMA, and other state and federal agencies to update and publish the NID. The success of the NID maintenance and publication program can be attributed to the cooperative participation of the 50 states and Puerto Rico (as facilitated by ASDSO), and 17 federal agencies, who provide information on approximately 79,000 dams currently in the NID.

Okaloosa County can utilize the resources of the ACOE agency to ensure that accurate and updated information is maintained in the NID.

Okaloosa County LMS Plan

Dam Location Map

As of March 2005

Source: National Inventory of Dams website, ACOE.

http://crunch.tec.army.mil/nid/webpages/nid.cfm                                                                                                                     

Green Dots are general locations of Dams. Red arrow indicates the Stafford Dam location.

Category Five (5) storm surge amounts were used for the total because the boundaries of all other storm surge zones and applicable parcels are all spatially located within the Category Five. These totals represent the maximum damage foreseeable due to storm surge activity. This methodology was chosen to prevent overlap of data and skewing results.

Category Five (5) storm surge amounts were used for the total because the boundaries of all other storm surge zones and applicable parcels are all spatially located within the Category Five. These totals represent the maximum damage foreseeable due to storm surge activity. This methodology was chosen to prevent overlap of data and skewing results.

Category Five (5) storm surge amounts were used for the total because the boundaries of all other storm surge zones and applicable parcels are all spatially located within the Category Five. These totals represent the maximum damage foreseeable due to storm surge activity. This methodology was chosen to prevent overlap of data and skewing results.

Category Five (5) storm surge amounts were used for the total because the boundaries of all other storm surge zones and applicable parcels are all spatially located within the Category Five. These totals represent the maximum damage foreseeable due to storm surge activity. This methodology was chosen to prevent overlap of data and skewing results.

Category Five (5) storm surge amounts were used for the total because the boundaries of all other storm surge zones and applicable parcels are all spatially located within the Category Five. These totals represent the maximum damage foreseeable due to storm surge activity. This methodology was chosen to prevent overlap of data and skewing results.

Category Five (5) storm surge amounts were used for the total because the boundaries of all other storm surge zones and applicable parcels are all spatially located within the Category Five. These totals represent the maximum damage foreseeable due to storm surge activity. This methodology was chosen to prevent overlap of data and skewing results.

Category Five (5) storm surge amounts were used for the total because the boundaries of all other storm surge zones and applicable parcels are all spatially located within the Category Five. These totals represent the maximum damage foreseeable due to storm surge activity. This methodology was chosen to prevent overlap of data and skewing results.

Category Five (5) storm surge amounts were used for the total because the boundaries of all other storm surge zones and applicable parcels are all spatially located within the Category Five. These totals represent the maximum damage foreseeable due to storm surge activity. This methodology was chosen to prevent overlap of data and skewing results.

Section Six

Goals, Mitigation Actions, and Initiatives 

6.1       Introduction

This section of Okaloosa County Local Mitigation (LMS) Plan contains the compilation of the proposed mitigation initiatives that are the result of the earlier planning efforts by the LMS Committee. This compilation serves to fulfill the requirements of 44 CFR Parts 201 and 206 Interim Final Rule in accordance with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA2K).  

The compilation is provided in four sub-sections to directly address the four criteria listed in §201. 6(c)(3):

• Local Hazard Mitigation Goals: As directed in §201.6(c)(3)(i), this subsection shall include…”a description of mitigation goals to reduce or avoid long-term vulnerabilities to the identified hazards.”

• Identification and Analysis of Mitigation Actions: As directed in §201.6(c)(3)(ii), this subsection shall…” identify and analyze a comprehensive range of specific mitigation actions and projects being considered to reduce the effects of each hazard, with particular emphasis on new and existing building and infrastructure.”  

• Implementation of Mitigation Actions and Multi-jurisdictional Mitigation Actions: As directed in §201.6(c)(3)(iii), this subsection shall…” include an action plan describing how the actions identified in section (c)(3)(ii) will be prioritized, implemented, and administered by the local jurisdiction.  Prioritization shall include a special emphasis on the extent to which benefits are maximized according to a cost benefit review of the proposed projects and their associated costs.”  As directed in §201.6(c)(3)(iv) and pertaining to the multi-jurisdictional aspects of this plan (i.e. the inclusion of the County and its municipalities), this subsection shall…”include identifiable action items specific to the jurisdiction requesting FEMA approval or credit of the plan.”

6.2       Local Hazard Mitigation Goals

The following goals are the broad range vision of what is to be accomplished during the five-year planning period from 2005 through 2010 by the LMS Steering Committee:

• Goal 1 – Continually provide mechanisms for local government jurisdictions and the public to accomplish mitigation activities in Okaloosa County.

Accomplish by:

Maintain bylaws that define membership and public participation methods.

• Holding regularly scheduled LMS Steering Committee and Working Committee meetings.  Steering Committee meetings will be held quarterly at minimum.
• Forming Working Groups for sub-regions, municipalities, or for specific hazards named in the plan to reduce or eliminate vulnerability.
• Maintaining a staffing presence to the LMS Steering Committee through contract or through staff hire or appointment.
• Providing communications to county and municipal contacts and through media outlets to advertise opportunities to attend and participate in mitigation functions, consistent with the Florida Sunshine Law.
• Holding meetings throughout the County and in various municipalities to encourage local participation.

Goal 2 – Maintain communication between the LMS Steering Committee and key County and Municipal departments to coordinate intra- and inter-departmental mitigation activities among various jurisdictions, and with the public.

Accomplish by:

Ensuring all interests of various departments are represented by the appointed staff to the Steering Committee

• Ensuring all interests are aware of Working Groups and a need to represent their own interests concerning various geographical areas or to address various hazards.
• Maintaining up-to-date e-mail and postal addresses and phone numbers to ensure communication.
• Establishing a website on the County’s web server that discusses the LMS program.

• Goal 3 – Update the LMS plan, as necessary, to identify changes to hazards, vulnerability, goals, initiatives/priorities accomplishments/withdrawal/additions/pending, update of funding sources, current disaster declarations, and adoption of revisions.

Accomplish by:

• Having the Steering Committee direct staff to update plan sections, tables, maps, etc., based upon current activities, trends, or issues.
• Providing LMS staff feedback that provides localized information that is current.
• Continually reviewing the plan and comparing it to other planning requirements (emergency management plans, comprehensive land use plans, community rating system plans) that contain mitigation provisions or may otherwise help to assert or hinder mitigation initiatives.
• Notifying staff to the committee regarding issues that arise that may need their consideration or to solicit opinion.
• Identifying and documenting potentially new hazards, including technological and homeland security issues not otherwise analyzed as a result of DMA2K.

• Goal 4 – Assist property owners, residents, businesses, non-profits and others in understanding and knowing of their eligibility for grants, loans and services that may help to mitigate hazards that directly affect their interests.

Accomplish by:

• Working with existing programs within the County and Municipalities (building inspections, local Community Rating System/National Flood Insurance Program, emergency management, chambers of commerce, etc.) to connect mitigation to these efforts.
• Being perceptive of and proactively engage new opportunities to promote mitigation interests.
• Developing a website that conveys updated information about mitigation activities on a continual basis.
• Staying abreast of available funding and service opportunities through participation in meetings, conferences, seminars, and research.
• Maintaining initiatives/priorities and contact persons lists to facilitate rapid notification of assistance availability.

• Targeting mitigation efforts and activities towards areas where hazards exist.
• Working with agencies, professionals, and the public to develop the best solutions for identified hazards.
• Examining and implementing appropriate technologies to identify, model, or otherwise simulate risks and zones of risk and incorporating these into the LMS plan.

6.3       Identification and Analysis of Mitigation Actions

Each of the hazards identified has various ways and methods of mitigation.  Chapter 4 of this plan demonstrates that a wide variety of hazards and risks exist throughout the County and in its municipalities.  Chapter 5 provides an analysis of the potential for damages to community-wide infrastructure (including public and private sector interests).  This section of the Local Mitigation Strategy Plan discusses the types of known mitigating actions that can be taken to reduce or eliminate future losses throughout Okaloosa County.  The mitigation actions suggested here are not exclusive, but instead should be viewed as a means of stimulating thought and creativity towards creating a more disaster-resistant community.

Readers should keep in mind that this section provides a broad set of ideas and recommendations, not specific ideas to individual sites impacted by currently pending, past, or anticipated disasters.  Readers are encouraged to become familiar with Section 6.4 of this document in order to identify and nominate locations and projects that are specific and recommend ways to specifically mitigate a problem.

            6.3.A.   Hurricane/Tropical Storm

The current LMS planning process was initiated prior to the landfall and subsequent impact of Hurricane Ivan on September 15-16, 2004.  Okaloosa County was all severely impacted by this Category 3 hurricane.  At the time of this writing, massive recovery efforts are underway.  All aspects of these communities were impacted.  Homes, businesses, governmental buildings, schools, roadways, waterways, recreational facilities, and natural amenities were all heavily impacted.

Hurricane Ivan has made it both easy and difficult for this plan to identify means of mitigation against future hurricane impacts.  Much of what would have been included in this plan has been previously documented in many ways because of past hurricane strikes.  However, no hurricane has created such a massive impact to the area since 1928.  In 1928, Okaloosa County had little coastal development.  Hurricane Erin (1995) demonstrated the County’s vulnerability to winds reaching near 100 MPH (with particular emphasis on loss of energy, road blockage, and debris impact).  Hurricane Opal (1995) demonstrated coastal vulnerability due to a massive storm surge. Hurricane Ivan took both of the demonstrations of Erin and Opal and combined these problems into a single, large-scale event.

For the purposes of this section of the LMS Plan, Hurricane Ivan provides a recent insight to what hurricanes can do to the area.  Prior to Hurricane Ivan, the LMS Committee would have developed an analysis of impact and potential mitigation actions mostly based upon knowledge obtained from Hurricanes Erin and Opal of 1995, and to a lesser extent earlier storms that had occurred during the past one hundred years.  This plan now has a vivid reminder of how both inland and coastal communities are truly vulnerable to major hurricanes (Category 3-5).

The following are the primary methods of mitigation that could reduce the impacts of hurricane impacts to Okaloosa County and its municipalities and are supported by the LMS Steering Committee:

• Building Construction and Flooding – Ensure all future buildings are constructed to Florida Building Code standards and are built above the established base flood elevations, or BFE’s, whether for zones impacted by moving water (velocity or “V” zones or floodways on Flood Insurance Rate Maps or FIRMS) or by rising water (such as “A” and “B” zones on FIRMS).
• Flood Mapping – Ensure that maps accurately reflect the amount of surge, wave and flood action that can occur during a major hurricane.
• Flood Category Mapping – Ensure that various types of flooding documented by a variety of sources (storm surge due to being wind driven, fetches within bays and sounds, riverine flooding, and low area/basin flooding) are all documented and that the public are aware of the existence of such mapping services and products for planning purposes.
• Coastal Bridge and Highway Construction – Ensure roads are designed and engineered for the amount of wind, surge, flooding and debris that can be expected.
• Building Construction and Wind – Ensure that all new buildings and permitted rehabilitations/additions are secure in terms of wind resistance and shuttering per mandates of the Florida Building Code.
• Existing Building Mitigation in Flood-Prone Locations – Provide opportunities for property owners to elevate existing structures, move them to higher ground, or to have properties purchased by local governments in order to reduce overall community vulnerability to surge and flooding.
• Availability of Public Sheltering – Ensure adequate and safe public shelters are available in all locations in the County to prevent or reduce post-disaster homelessness, including adequate electrical supplies for cooking and to maintain sanitary conditions.
• Structural Soundness of Existing Local Government Centers – Promote and support funding that allows for buildings to remain functional before, during and after a hurricane event in order to support the function of Okaloosa County Emergency Management’s mandates under Chapter 252 Florida Statutes.  This includes support of the formation of municipal emergency operations centers and protection of both municipal and county infrastructure named in the County’s or a municipal Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan and its Emergency Support Functions (including first response entities and their supporting buildings).
• Communications  - Ensure mitigation activities are wind and electrical-failure resistant to allow for 24/7 communications during the first 72 hours following a disaster.  Communications can include radio, television, telephone, Internet, and all other means of communications systems.
• Heavy Equipment – Ensure adequate equipment exists to remove debris, clear roads, perform search and rescue functions, and otherwise respond and recover from hurricane impacts.
• Public Agency Purchase of Undeveloped High Risk Flood/Surge Areas – Promote the continued purchase of lands that are at high risk of flooding, with proper considerations of private property rights and constitutional requirements for just compensation, as appropriate.
• Public Awareness – Promote public awareness of hurricane hazards and ways that private structure owners and landowners can mitigate using governmental or private sector investment.  Additionally, ensure that the business community is aware of the consequences of not mitigating businesses for hurricane impacts.

            6.3.B.  Flooding

As identified in Chapter 4, flooding can be experienced during hurricanes and tropical storm events.  Concentration to identify and analyze methods of mitigation for flooding will be similar to recommendations that address flooding in Section 6.3.A., however this section also attempts to identify other areas that are specific to riverine, isolated basins, and dam safety.

The following are the primary methods of mitigation that could reduce the impacts of flooding impacts to Okaloosa County and its municipalities and are supported by the LMS Steering Committee:

• Building Construction and Flooding – Ensure all future buildings are constructed to Florida Building Code standards and are built above the established base flood elevations, or BFE’s, whether for zones impacted by moving water (velocity or “V” zones or floodways on Flood Insurance Rate Maps or FIRMS) or by rising water (such as “A” and “B” zones on FIRMS).
• Flood Mapping – Ensure that maps accurately reflect the amount of surge, wave and flood action that can occur during a major hurricane.
• Flood Category Mapping – Ensure that various types of flooding documented by a variety of sources (storm surge due to being wind driven, fetches within bays and sounds, riverine flooding, and low area/basin flooding) are all documented and that the public are aware of the existence of such mapping services and products for planning purposes.
• Bridge and Highway Construction – Ensure roads are designed and engineered for the amount of wind, surge, flooding and debris that can be expected.
• Existing Building Mitigation in Flood-Prone Locations – Provide opportunities for property owners to elevate existing structures, move them to higher ground, or to have properties purchased by local governments in order to reduce overall community vulnerability to surge and flooding.
• Critical Public Buildings Away From Floodplains and Flood-Prone Areas – Ensure that all public buildings that serve first response and critical emergency/public needs, including record/data collection and communication centers/infrastructure, are located outside of flood zones or flood-prone areas.
• NFIP and Community Rating System – Support efforts to gain approval and/or to maintain status as CRS communities in all municipalities and the County.
• Agricultural Flood Damage Prevention – Support efforts of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Services (IFAS/County Cooperative Extension Service) and the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) as it relates to reduction and mitigation of flood hazards to crops and silvicultural operations.
• Dam Safety – Support efforts that document hazards and risks associated with structural and earthen dams and upkeep.  Support efforts that create partnerships with property owners that promote the overall goal of community-wide and stream valley safety.

            6.3.C.  Land Erosion

As identified in Chapter 4, land erosion can be experienced during hurricanes and tropical storm events as well as over a long, almost imperceptible time frame.  Once in motion, land erosion can be difficult to control.  Both vegetative cover and structural controls are necessary to gain control of erosion.  Even where no development is present, natural forces can erode vegetation and land away where high amounts of energy (i.e. waves and water) are present.

Since Hurricane Ivan, coastal erosion has emerged as a serious concern for coastal areas.  This not only includes properties directly on the Gulf of Mexico, but also those on bays and sounds (due to high water and surge).  Additionally, soil erosion due to runoff, construction, agricultural/silvicultural operations, and along roadways slowly but surely creates sedimentation problems, gullies, and rills that can become problematic over time.

The following are the primary methods of mitigation that could reduce the impacts of land erosion impacts to Okaloosa County and its municipalities and are supported by the LMS Steering Committee:

• Vegetative Control – Support efforts that protect natural plant systems, human plantings, special tilling methods and technologies, and other forms of vegetative erosion control.
• Structural Control – Support of mitigation efforts that allow public and private sector entities to gain control of problem erosion locations, gullies and rills that reduce unnatural sedimentation accumulation and cutting into natural hillsides and land, and to control coastal erosion where seawalls are necessary.
• Construction and Infrastructure – Support mitigation efforts that would allow for construction and infrastructure development to eliminate an existing erosion problem or to eliminate creation of such a problem.
• Coastal Human-Induced Erosion – Lend support to mitigation efforts that help to eliminate or reduce coastal erosion due to boat/ship wake issues, while weighing the interests of the boating public.

            6.3.D.  Sinkholes

Sinkholes are generally not experienced in Okaloosa County.  What are often called sinkholes are often sewer, storm drain, or water line failures underground that cause a human-created collapse.

The following are the primary methods of mitigation that could reduce the impacts of land erosion impacts to Okaloosa County and its municipalities and are supported by the LMS Steering Committee:

• Sinkhole Risk Assessment – The LMS Committee supports research of the possibilities of natural sinkhole occurrence where a reasonable and realistic risk to the public is discovered and said research is considered vital towards local knowledge and understanding of the geology of the area.         

6.3.E.   Expansive Soils

With only 1.6% of the County’s soils at risk of being expansive against foundations and roadways (and with the majority of those soils being located in salt marshes which are already publicly owned), and with no records of such soils causing problems for buildings in the County and its municipalities, there is little that can be done to further mitigate construction in these areas.

The following are the primary methods of mitigation that could reduce the impacts of expansive soil impacts to Okaloosa County and its municipalities and are supported by the LMS Steering Committee:

• Expansive Soil Risk Assessment – The LMS Committee supports research of the possibilities of expansive soil situations outside of locations already owned by public entities (such as the Northwest Florida Water Management District) where a reasonable and realistic risk to the public is discovered and said research is considered vital towards local knowledge and understanding of the soils of the area.

6.3.F.   Tornadoes and Waterspouts

Because of the unpredictable nature of this weather feature, mitigation against tornadoes and waterspouts throughout Okaloosa County is difficult at best.  Unlike locations of the United States where underground shelters might be recommended on a routine basis, the ability to achieve a reasonable benefit-cost ratio with such actions is questionable throughout the County.  Additionally, it is unlikely that underground shelters would even be feasible in many locations due to high water tables (one of the reasons that few buildings in the County have basements).

Fortunately, many of the same building codes and standards that are required for high wind protection in hurricanes lend considerable protection in most tornadoes and waterspouts.  The likely best type of mitigation would be warning and communication systems, and protection within a building already meeting the Florida Building Code.

The following are the primary methods of mitigation that could reduce the impacts of tornado and waterspout impacts to Okaloosa County and its municipalities and are supported by the LMS Steering Committee:

• Communications and Warning Systems – Ensure the public can be informed of pending conditions that would produce a tornado or waterspout, or otherwise warn the public that such an event was pending.  Support mitigation activities that improve emergency management sponsored systems that coordinate such efforts with the County’s and Municipal Warning System through its 911 program.
• Public Education – Support mitigation activities that help to educate the public about the dangers of tornadoes and waterspouts in the area and describe how to take protective actions in various situations.  Such activities should be supported and coordinated with the County Emergency Management office.

6.3.G.  Severe Thunderstorms and Lightning

This common natural hazard and threat deserves attention, especially in terms of lightning and the risk it poses to structures and electrically sensitive equipment.  There are many mitigation activities that can take place throughout any community that reduces the threat of electrical surges and discharges of lightning.  Aside from the risk of equipment being struck, there is an ever-present risk of people being hit by lightning (especially given the amount of outdoor recreation --- such as golfing, boating, fishing, hunting, bicycling, swimming, or poolside --- occurring throughout the County and municipalities during warm weather months or during frontal passage when thunderstorms are most common).

Damaging winds and hail are generally mitigated through building codes that are already in place due to the overall risk of hurricanes in the area.  It is difficult to mitigate personal property and livestock against hail unless said property can be immediately placed indoors (without risk of being struck by lightning while in the process of doing so).

The following are the primary methods of mitigation that could reduce the impacts of severe thunderstorms and lightning to Okaloosa County and its municipalities and are supported by the LMS Steering Committee:

• Communications and Warning Systems – Ensure the public can be informed of pending conditions that would produce a severe thunderstorm, or otherwise warn the public that such an event was pending.  Support mitigation activities that improve emergency management sponsored systems that coordinate such efforts with the County’s and Municipal Warning System through its 911 program.
• Public Education – Support mitigation activities that help to educate the public about the dangers of severe thunderstorms and especially lightning in the area and describe how to take protective actions in various situations.  Such activities should be supported and coordinated with the County Emergency Management office.
• Secure Electronic and Electrically-Sensitive Systems – Ensure that mitigation activities are supported that reduce the risk of loss of electronic equipment and structures due to lightning strike and electrical surge.

6.3.H.  Winter Storms

Because of infrequency, it is difficult to mitigate the impacts of winter storms in Okaloosa County and its municipalities.  There is little infrastructure in place to combat what may be the greatest winter risk… an ice storm with accompanying glaze.  The most credible worst case scenario would be massive loss of the local and regional electric utility grid, the inability to keep buildings warm, and hardship in performing rescues on segments of the public most vulnerable to cold (such as the elderly, very young, and those who are ill).  Much of the recovery effort would rest in the hands of private sector electrical service providers.  The County and its municipalities have no salt spreaders, and only road graders are available that might be used to scrape snow or ice (and they have no chains or winter tires).  The erratic occurrence of such events simply does not justify large or perhaps any public expenditure for equipment to remove winter precipitation, or extensive building codes to deal with such issues.

Back-up heating sources and availability of electrical generators are possible mitigative measures for some critical facilities.  Back-up heating will usually consist of portable kerosene heaters or fireplaces.  Natural gas and propane heating systems are good, but if an electrical blower is part of an overall heating system, without a generator there will be no ability to heat such facilities.

More realistically, the most common winter disaster in the area is a frozen pipe and sometimes subsequent flooding of the interior of a house or business.  This can generally be mitigated by heating strips or by wrapping pipes with insulation… all commonly available products in local hardware and department stores.  In a worst-case situation, a pipe may need to be relocated to a warmer part of a structure.

Agricultural interests are probably the most prepared segment of the County’s population and business community for cold weather.  Sensitive crops and animals are often supplied with heat that mitigates the cold.  Spraying of water and forming ice on some trees can insulate them from cold air damage.  Animals can be brought into barns or in some cases have jackets placed on them.  Most bear the cold well because the severity of cold in the area is simply incomparable to winter conditions hundreds of miles north of the County. Public education about the risk of winter storms may be the most appropriate type of mitigation activity that can be provided and supported by the LMS Committee.

The following are the primary methods of mitigation that could reduce the impacts of winter storms to Okaloosa County and its municipalities and are supported by the LMS Steering Committee:

• Public Education – Support mitigation activities that help to educate the public about the infrequent but possible risk of winter storms in the area.
• Shelter Evaluation – Ensure mitigation activities for shelters include an assessment of the availability of heating systems that could function in the event of an ice storm in the County, including the ability to generate electricity.
• Public Building Preparedness – Support mitigation activities that reduce or eliminate vulnerability to freezing (such as those that protect water pipes) or provide secondary heating or electrical systems for first responder or other vital emergency management functions.
• Communications – Ensure mitigation activities within communications systems to ensure capabilities to communicate during and following a winter storm (particularly relating to electrical systems).

6.3.I.    Heat Waves and Drought

The primary challenges to the County during a heat wave and drought is to ensure electrical service is maintained to run air conditioners, that adequate private sector air conditioning services are available to serve public and private buildings, and that water is available.  In a drought, the challenge may simply be to monitor water supplies, to provide water as an emergency resource for critical situations, and to restrict use by the public, as appropriate.

Although not as critical as freezing conditions and the need for warmth and heating, air conditioning can be a critical need for some segments of the populations (elderly, very young, ill).  Limited public sheltering might be necessary in extreme conditions, and the ability to provide cool air for those in need would be critical.  This could point to the need for generators for a shelter that might be used in a heat wave.

Drain on the overall electrical system due to high demand might also impact emergency operations, especially as it relates to pumping water and communications.  Again, electrical generators may be a key mitigation mechanism.

Agricultural interests are also at risk.  With crops, there is little that can be done other than irrigate.  Livestock and poultry must be watered (and drought can lead to a lack of feed supplies). 

Public education about the hazards of heat and need to stay cool hydrated, and at a pace of work that is sensible is a routine mitigation activity because of the warm climate.  Most individuals living in the area are accustomed to living in a hot summer climate.

The following are the primary methods of mitigation that could reduce the impacts of severe heat and drought to Okaloosa County and its municipalities and are supported by the LMS Steering Committee:

• Shelter Evaluation – Ensure mitigation activities for shelters include an assessment of the availability of heating systems that could function in the event of an ice storm in the County.
• Public Building Preparedness – Support mitigation activities that reduce or eliminate vulnerability to freezing (such as those that protect water pipes) or provide secondary heating or electrical systems for first responder or other vital emergency management functions.
• Communications – Ensure mitigation activities within communications systems to ensure capabilities to communicate during and following a winter storm (particularly relating to electrical systems).
• Agricultural Interests  - Support mitigative measures (with the advice of IFAS and the NRCS) that would identify public measures that would help agricultural, forestry, and aquacultural interests in the County.

6.3.k.   Wildfire

Perhaps the second greatest natural hazard risk in the County (behind hurricanes) is wildfire.  A dry weather pattern (even beginning a few days following a rain event when low humidity is achieved) can create a hazard that may threaten timberlands, grasslands, and developed areas.  The natural vegetative ecology is fire dependant.  Because of the interwoven pattern of development, vacant lots, timberlands, state forests, military reservations, national park areas, and pastures… and added to that the number of sources that can cause fires (catalytic converters, garbage burning, arson, campfires, lightning, etc.), the risk of wildfire the County and its municipalities is extraordinarily high during the right weather conditions.

Hurricanes (such as Ivan in 2004) can add leaves and wood to existing fuel on the forest floor.  Debris can also ignite, spreading fires into locations that can quickly impact houses.

The LMS Steering Committee believes wildfire is as serious a threat as hurricanes to all areas of the County and its municipalities.  Although damage is unlikely to be as widespread as a hurricane, it is possible that tens of thousands of residents and business could be impacted under the right conditions.  Whole counties in other portions of Florida have had to evacuate due to massive fires, and similar conditions in Okaloosa County could cause similar sized evacuations and disaster conditions.

The primary focus of mitigation activities should be public awareness and education, cooperative efforts and partnership building with the Florida Division of Forestry, and support of all of the County and municipal fire departments and their supporting agencies.  There should be close correlation between planning activities and how development interfaces with rural, fire prone lands.  The Division of Forestry has an excellent system of mapping the most fire prone locations that can be used by the County and its municipalities for planning and mitigation purposes.  This interaction can assist in understanding the needs of local fire departments and water systems to assist in suppressing wildland fires.

The following are the primary methods of mitigation that could reduce the impacts of wildfire to Okaloosa County and its municipalities and are supported by the LMS Steering Committee:

Public Education  - Support the activities of local fire departments and the Florida Division of Forestry in promoting “FireWise” programs, local inspections, and enforcement activities to reduce or eliminate wildfire risk. 

• Planning and Development – Support activities that integrate wildfire mitigation techniques with design and review processes of subdivision plats to reduce risks to new communities through cooperative efforts between land planning offices, fire departments and the Florida Division of Forestry.
• Mapping and Updates – Support activities that newly document or update maps, aerial photography, or other remote sensing imagery that shows degrees of risk (Levels of Concern) for wildfire and utilize such data to focus mitigation activities against wildfire.
• Fire Department Response Systems and Capabilities – Ensure that fire stations and their supporting equipment and personnel are adequate in terms of size, modernization, communications, in order to respond to situations by mitigating situations that are below acceptable standards to fight wildfires throughout the County and to provide mutual aid support in neighboring jurisdictions or counties.
• Water Supplies – As appropriate, support public and private mitigation efforts to provide fire hydrants to locations at risk along the urban/rural interface where water systems exist to provide such services.

6.3.K.  Other Hazards

Earthquake:  Earthquakes have been felt in recent years in the Jay (Santa Rosa County) area.  These quakes have been centered about 15 miles northwest of Jay in Alabama along the Pollard Graben (a regional “stable” fault system).  Although there is no specific documentation, extraction activities in the area may be the cause of the earthquakes.

At this time, the LMS Steering Committee is not supporting mitigation activities for earthquakes due to the infrequency, the small magnitude, and overall low risk of earthquakes to the County.  This may be reconsidered should researchers (such as those from the U.S. Geological Survey) determine the risk is greater than what has been previously thought.

Avalanche:  There is no risk of avalanche in the County.  The LMS Steering Committee will not support mitigation activities for this hazard.

Land Subsidence:  There is no risk of land subsidence in the County.  The LMS Steering Committee will not support mitigation activities for this hazard unless documentation is provided that it is becoming an issue at some location within the County.

Landslide:  Since there is virtually no risk of a landslide in the County, the LMS Steering Committee will not support mitigation activities for this hazard.

Tsunami:  Due to the 2004 tsunamis in Southeast Asia, there is widespread concern in the United States about tsunami risk.  Chapter 4 of this plan documents the tsunami risk for Okaloosa County.  Unless studies released by U.S. Government or other sources demonstrate that the County is at much greater risk than previous thought, the LMS Steering Committee will not support mitigation activities for this hazard.

Volcano:  There is no risk of volcanic activity in the County.  The LMS Steering Committee will not support mitigation activities for this hazard.

    Implementation of Mitigation Actions and Multi-jurisdictional Mitigation Actions

Section 8.1 contains the Okaloosa County project list and proposed rankings for 2004 for the County and all of its municipalities.  These lists contain specifically identified potential projects and efforts identified by these local government jurisdictions and by the LMS Steering Committee that would be sanctioned as a mitigation project if approved by funding agencies or to demonstrate consistency with the goals of the Committee and jurisdiction means one “having authority or control.”  That is how the term is used in Section 8.1, “Proposed Rankings for 2005 Projects,” column 2, “jurisdictions.”  Therefore it is the intent of this document to express that the label “jurisdiction” is the responsible party for the correlating projects noted in the columns adjacent to the name of the jurisdiction.  Each jurisdiction is responsible for the planning, funding, implementation, administration and completion of each project.  Further, each is responsible for notifying the LMS committee when that project has been completed so that the project priority list may be updated.

NOTE:  Parties responsible for applying for or otherwise acquiring funding for a potential mitigation project should clearly understand that federal mitigation dollars (such as the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program or HMGP, and the Pre-Disaster Mitigation grant program, or PDM – both provided by FEMA) are awarded only when an appropriate application is made for a given project and it appears on the current LMS “Initiatives/Priorities List”.  Applications naming projects that are not approved to be on the Initiatives/Priorities List for the County will not be funded by FEMA.

The LMS Initiatives Lists are open to public nomination as well as LMS Committee member nomination.  An “Initiatives Nomination Form” is available continually for use by all parties.  This form provides a scoring system that documents how much mitigation activity might occur should a project be implemented.  There is no score or mark that must be achieved before a form can be completed and turned into LMS Committee staff.

Once a form is provided to LMS Committee staff, staff members may contact the nominating party for additional information, particularly if there are gaps in the document (areas not completed or where “don’t know” is checked.  Once the form is processed, a rough run of FEMA’s Benefit Cost Ratio software is made, if possible.  The score and the ratio are then provided to the LMS Working Groups (as appropriate) and ultimately the LMS Steering Committee for approval and ranking.

The top ranking of a project does not necessarily mean that it will be approved and implemented “first”.  Funding sources, availability, and their rules and guidelines determine what might be funded.  Those items at the top of the list eligible for a given source of funds to accomplish a mitigation initiative are to be accomplished first, according to the principles of the LMS Steering Committee.

Once a project is provided funds (whether from local revenue, grant or loan funds), the initiative is placed on an “in progress list” under the name of the given local government jurisdiction.  Joint projects may appear on several lists at this stage to show what is being accomplished.

When a project is completed, it is placed in a table demonstrating its accomplishment, its cost, and a short description of what was achieved so that its history can be documented.  Again, joint projects may appear several times, with funding amounts per jurisdiction documented.