4.7 SR 06-01-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Sherburne County Multi -Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2020 • People with low income. These individuals may not be able to afford to properly cool their home and may face transportation challenges when trying to access cooling shelters. • Athletes and people working outdoors. Both groups are likely to exert energy while being exposed to the heat (CDC, 203.9). Many of the population groups vulnerable to extreme heat are included as social variables in the CDC's SVI data, specifically in the Socioeconomic Status, and Household Composition & Disability themes. These SVI maps, displayed in section 3.6.1., can be a reference to identify the census tracts within the county with residents who may be more susceptible to the risk of extreme heat. Sherburne County Emergency Management identified that there are existing program gaps and deficiencies that make its citizens more vulnerable to extreme heat and should be addressed with new mitigation efforts to reduce vulnerability. They include: Mass Care Shelter Facilities — Sherburne County needs to work with local communities and the American Red Cross to increase the number of facilities that can serve as mass care sheltering facilities. Generators for Backup Power to Shelter Facilities — Not all of our designated shelter facilities have generator backup power to provide cooling if there is a loss of power. 4.3.9 Drought Within the broad domain of natural hazards that comprise disaster science, drought is unequivocally the most difficult to define. This is primarily due to its insidious nature, and because the parameters that typically control it vary both spatially and temporally. For instance, the hydro -meteorological conditions that constitute drought in one location, may not necessarily qualify as drought in a contrasting climate. Even in regions that share a statistically similar climate, other factors such as soil type, antecedent moisture conditions, ground cover and topography all play a vital role in dictating drought emergence. To further complicate matters, drought is associated with a diverse number of climatic and hydrological stressors, which come with a unique set of collective impacts that affect nearly every corner of our economy and environment. Subsequently, there are over a hundred and fifty different definitions of drought, notjust because it is difficult to define, but precisely on the grounds that drought affects different regions in different ways (Fu, Svoboda, & Tang, 203.3). When one attempts to merge and understand these various definitions and impacts, it is evident that drought can be integrated into five principal categories. These include: meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, ecological and socio-economic drought (Figure 20). Page174