W5R

Provide a substantive response to fellow student’s post below. Do not simple agree or disagree–provide a thoughtful analysis

Please write a 150 word response to Tabitha post.
Tabitha,
State Hazard Mitigation Officer
              The State Hazard Mitigation Officer (SHMO) is the individual responsible for all matters regarding FEMA funded Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) that includes the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2015). The HMA programs are designed to reduce the risk from natural hazards to individuals and property. They also seek to reduce reliance on Federal disaster funds. HMA programs provide funding that increases community resilience and reduces long-term vulnerability. The HMA program reduces resource requirements for response and recovery after a disaster, resulting not only in a safer community but a more self-reliant one. Funding for the HMGP is generated from a federally declared disaster, while PDM’s are used for pre-disaster natural hazard mitigation programs. SHMO’s manage these grants while also ensuring local compliance with the hazard mitigation assistance (Smith, Vila, & Caverly, 2020). They develop hazard mitigation strategies to prioritize distribution of funds to local governments. SHMO’s can use funds to hire staff and contractors to aid in grant management administration. They also conduct training, develop manuals and guides to assist local governments in applying for and implementing grants, collect and analyze data, conduct risk assessments, and create quarterly reports.
              The Florida Department of Emergency Management appoints the Florida State Hazard Mitigation Officer while the State Administration Plan identifies the positions and number of personnel needed for the mitigation team. The SHMO manages the mitigation team and can boost the number of personnel with staff from the emergency management agency after a disaster. The mitigation team includes clerical, administrative, financial management staff, program specialists, environmental planners, and representatives involved in natural resources, floodplain management, environmental issues, historic preservation, transportation, planning and zoning, housing and economic development, building regulations, public information, insurance, local government, business, and nonprofit organizations. “With the varied backgrounds and specialized expertise of members, the team creates interagency, interdisciplinary insight regarding risks and potential solutions” (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2015, p. 97). This lessens political pressure on the agency receiving the funds and increases the availability of resources. The mitigation team also communicates with local governments about State mitigation priorities and builds support for mitigation initiatives.
              An example of the specific role of a State Mitigation Officer is found in the State of Florida Administrative Plan for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (State of Florida Division of Emergency Management, 2018). This plan outlines the administrative procedures for the HMGP for Hurricanes Hermine and Matthew and establishes responsibilities between the State, the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), and FEMA. FDEM appoints the State Hazard Mitigation Officer who ensures the State has an approved Standard State Hazard Mitigation Plan, conducts a post-disaster assessment of damages incurred, and gives suggestions for updating the Local Mitigation Strategies. Along with the FDEM, the SHMO collects relevant documents pertaining to the current disasters and forwards them to the Implementation Unit, coordinates with local governments to ensure their actions are consistent with the plans and actions of the State, manages HMGP funds, submits quarterly progress reports to FEMA, and notifies all required personnel of hazard mitigation grant funds.

Please write a 150 word response to Rodrique post

Rodrique,

Roles of State Hazard Mitigation Officer
A State Hazard Mitigation Officer has an essential responsibility in creating, implementing, and planning strategies to reduce losses of life and property. These disasters consume a lot of money; For example, hurricanes in some parts of the United States use billion of dollars. To end these natural and technological hazards, hazard and disaster scholars have emphasized the need for hazard mitigation officers to minimize the hazard impacts, limit individual and community exposure to dangers, and strengthen the built environment’s resilience. This paper will discuss the roles of these State Hazard Mitigation Officers.
First, they create a safe and resilient community through mitigation planning policies and actions to control hazardous conditions. By encouraging the people from various communities and making them gain interest, they reduce these conditions. Constant visits done by these officers to the affected areas also assure the community that they are safe; hence everybody is ready and willing to support the officers to get a safe neighborhood and stay and carry out their day-to-day activities (Smith, 2013). They also distribute guidebooks to the people and conduct workshops and conferences to provide information and conduct training. After this training, one can apply to join the State Hazard Mitigation Team. This is done in states like California and Florida.
Secondly, they facilitate the exchange of information among stakeholders. Since they are the ones that visit the affected areas and get to see what happened, they are mostly consulted to determine the amount of money that could be taken to deal with a specific disaster, whether it is the supply of water or the materials needed to prevent a likely occurring hazard. They also go to the affected areas and listen to the affected (Smith, 2013) people and get to know how desperately they need to be assisted. Collaboration with the stakeholders develops and adopts strategies that enhance disaster resilience in communities. They also communicate with officers from various areas and exchange vital information to achieve broader hazard mitigations.   
Thirdly, they conduct risk and vulnerability assessments. These officers are the ones that do research on the most probable risk and report to the authorities for solutions. They also assess the integrity of community public water systems to prevent water crisis events.  They also consider the affected areas and then create awareness among the people living in those risky areas and advise them on how to handle the various hazards. They report the assessments done to the stakeholders for earlier plans to solve any problem that can occur. They also hand out questionnaires and conduct interviews, and collect them later for assessment.            
Fourth, mitigation officers and Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] promote resilience in the design of buildings and infrastructure. FEMA has implemented Sections 404 and 406 of the Stafford Act that allows funding to co-operate mitigation measures for recovery activities. They recognize the risk of a disaster increasing as a result of various factors. They include; high population growth in the high-risk areas, aging infrastructures, and climatic changes. They co-operate (May 1985) with mitigation officers, inform and update FEMA to reduce and fund hazardous environmental conditions. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it supported 42 states in Washington D.C for the vaccination. FEMA works together with these officers to create a conducive environment.
Mitigation officers also work with the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program [PDM] to assist states, territories, tribes, and local communities in making programs to protect communities from future hazardous events. They also organize funds that can be used for projects and planning activities. This Period of Performance [POP] of this program ends immediately after 36 months of selection. The Flood Mitigation Assistance Program [FMA] was created to control floods from occurring. They work (Raikes, 2019) with mitigation officers to evacuate people from poorly drained areas and bring them to safe places. FMA receives its funds from the National Insurance Fund for mitigation processes. Mitigation officers encourage people to apply for FMA funds. The POP also ends after 36 months of selection.
Mitigation officers also work with the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to assert that the measures taken to reduce loss of life and property from future disasters are not lost during the reconstruction process. The funding for this job is available also long as there is a declaration from the president. The POP ends after 36 months of selection. In addition to that, every state appoints its mitigation officers with the assertation of their leaders.
In conclusion, mitigation officers have a significant role in preventing disastrous changes in the environments around us. They create safe and resilient communities, facilitate the exchange of information among stakeholders, conduct risky and vulnerable assessments, promote resilience in the construction of buildings and infrastructure, help in controlling floods, create programs to create awareness among people, and asserting measures taken are not lost during reconstruction process Each state should be encouraged to appoint these officers.