Continuing with the theme of mitigation in our previous post, it’s important to recognize that there are a number of impediments to mitigation.
In fact, it’s common for people to ask why hasn’t risk reduction and mitigation programs been more widely applied? There are several factors including denial of the risk, political will, costs and lack of funding.
In addition, many individuals don’t want to recognize that they or their communities are vulnerable.
Recognition requires action. Some people are willing to try to beat the odds and if the odds do not work in their favor they know the government will help them out. Potential liability issues are making communities more aware, media attention to disasters in this country and around the world has brought public pressure and the government has provided both incentives and penalties for taking preventive action.
Mitigation costs money, but it is always better to be proactive rather than reactive.
Mitigation is a long-term endeavor with long-term benefits. Our political system tends to focus on short-term efforts with short-term rewards. Mitigation strategies and actions require political vision and will. Funding for mitigation comes primarily from federal programs that need to be matched with state and local dollars. Strong arguments can be made that it is in the best financial interest of our various government bodies to support mitigation even in these budget challenged times.
Mitigation strategies and actions require political vision and will. Local elected officials are the individuals who have to promote, market and endorse adopting risk reduction as a goal. For many elected officials, the development pressures are too much, funding is lacking and other priorities dominate their agendas. However, with the increasing natural disasters hopefully more elected officials will recognize that they can’t afford to take action.
Investment in risk reduction makes sense in view of the scale, destructiveness, human tragedy and material loss caused by natural disasters. The next disaster may in your hometown!