Abstract:
Earthquakes a . tsunamis pose significant threats to port and harbor
communities in the Pacific Northwest. Developing effective mitigation and
preparedness plans requires a comprehensive understanding of community
vulnerability. Research presented here focuses on the vulnerability of ports and
harbors to earthquake and tsunami hazards and includes a regional study of
stakeholder perceptions, a community-based process that integrates stakeholder and
technical advisor expertise and a GIS-based approach that combines regional data
with local stakeholder knowledge. The perception study was conducted to gauge
hazard and vulnerability awareness, current state of readiness and priorities for
future work. To date, communities have developed mitigation and response
strategies, with less energy devoted to post-event recovery plans. Although city and
county hazard strategies have been developed, little has been done to make
individual offices or businesses less vulnerable. To further vulnerability reduction
efforts, respondents rated public outreach programs, cost/benefit analyses and
hazard mapping efforts as high priority. The second study of port and harbor
vulnerability focuses on an assessment approach based on the integration of
technical advisor and stakeholder expertise in a collaborative workshop setting.
Through this process, participants were most concerned with potential life loss and
other nonstructural vulnerability issues rather than structural issues, such as damage
to specific buildings. The inclusion of stakeholder input and assessments from both
geographic and community function viewpoints provided a more robust
representation of community vulnerability issues than only site-specific technical
analyses. The third study of port and harbor vulnerability focuses on the use of
Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, with an emphasis on identifying
community resources that protect life safety, the built environment and
infrastructure integrity, and economic vitality. Products from this GIS approach,
such as composite vulnerability maps, can serve as a basis for setting community
priorities for increasing resiliency to natural hazards. Results from this GIS
approach suggest that widely available on-line data sources must be supplemented
with local knowledge if realistic preparedness and mitigation strategies are to be
developed. Research presented here will help numerous agencies, organizations,
and communities set priorities in future mitigation actions, be it research action
plans, resource allocation, or investment planning.
