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Sherburne County Multi -Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2020 <br />Section 4— Risk Assessment <br />The goal of mitigation is to reduce or eliminate the future impacts of a hazard including loss of life, <br />property damage, disruption to local and regional economies, and the expenditure of public and private <br />funds for recovery. Sound mitigation practices must be based on sound risk assessment. A risk <br />assessment involves quantifying the potential loss resulting from a disaster by assessing the <br />vulnerability of buildings, infrastructure and people. <br />Basing risk assessments on the best information available is important in developing effective <br />mitigation actions that benefit communities. Geographic Information System (GIS) tools are not only <br />helpful in producing maps, but they also show structures at risk and may determine damage estimates <br />for potential hazard scenarios. MN Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) <br />mitigation staff encourages the use of GIS tools in risk assessments because they produce good <br />information to use in the risk assessment process. <br />This assessment identifies the characteristics and potential consequences of a disaster, how much of <br />the community could be affected by a disaster, and the impact on community assets. A risk assessment <br />consists of three components — hazard identification and prioritization, risk profile, and vulnerability <br />profile. <br />4.3. Hazard Identification/Profile <br />4.1.1 Hazard Identification <br />The cornerstone of the risk assessment is identification of the hazards that affect jurisdictions. To <br />facilitate the planning process, several sources were employed to ensure that the natural hazards are <br />identified prior to assessment. <br />Natural hazards are identified in the FEMA publication "Multi -Hazard Identification and Risk <br />Assessment —A Cornerstone of the National Mitigation Strategy," also known as MHIRA. FEMA Region <br />V developed a list based on state mitigation plans in the region. Table io liststhe natural hazards <br />included in the 203.9 Minnesota State Hazard Mitigation Plan. <br />Table 10. FEMA MHIRA Natural Hazards in the 2019 Minnesota State Hazard Mitigation Plan <br />Flooding <br />Hail <br />Drought <br />Dam/Levee Failure <br />Lightning <br />Extreme Heat <br />Wildfire* <br />Winter Storms <br />Extreme Cold <br />Windstorms <br />Erosion/Landslides/ <br />Earthquakes <br />Mudslides <br />Tornadoes <br />Land Subsidence <br />Coastal Erosion <br />(Sinkholes & Karst) <br />& Flooding <br />*Addressed in the State Mitigation Plan because Minnesota is a heavily forested state compared to other states in Region V. <br />Page135 <br />