Vulnerability Assessment and Impact Analysis

This chapter describes the process of vulnerability assessment and impact analysis for natural and manmade hazards. Hazard vulnerability assessment is the basis for the development of a comprehensive emergency management program. It evaluates what could happen, the likelihood of this event occurring, and the magnitude of problems created because of a given event. By identifying potential events that could occur, efforts can be directed toward mitigation activities and developing needed response plans. Although this task is not complex, it does require a comprehensive review of the natural and technological (manmade) hazards of the region. Vulnerability assessment helps to inventory assets in the community that will be affected by hazard events. If resources are available, a detailed inventory of assets can be compiled, and the process involved in doing this is described in this chapter. Impact analysis is performed by estimating the expected losses from hazard events to people, buildings, and other important assets compiled during inventory assets. Comprehensive loss estimation should assess the level of damage from hazards, including the contents and functions of the buildings or assets as well as the risk to the structure itself. Hazard mitigation plans (HMPs) should also address repetitive loss properties (RLPs) and development trends, including scheduled infrastructure while conducting the risk and vulnerability assessment. In this chapter, a simple process is applied to assess the threat of technological hazards. It can be used to handle incidents with manmade hazards that are accidents and those that are intentional. The HVA matrix product proposed here can be easily adopted by any community.