Indiana's Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan
Highlights from the 2019 update
The 2019 Indiana Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan (MHMP) lays the framework for accomplishing one of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s (IDHS) top 2019-2020 strategic priorities of expanding mitigation and resiliency in the State of Indiana. This includes expanding statewide collaboration and planning, promoting safety, implementing a statewide mitigation strategy, and strengthening partnerships that impact resiliency.
The federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 provides the legal basis for FEMA mitigation planning requirements for state, local, and tribal governments as a condition of federal grant assistance. IDHS worked in close conjunction with The Polis Center to involve many different partners statewide to update this plan.
Some of the many collaborators that helped update the state plan.
Climate Change in Indiana
One of the key changes to the 2019 State Plan update was a section addressing the impacts of Climate Change to disasters in Indiana. In 2015, FEMA updated their State Mitigation Plan Review Guide to include requirements for states to address the potential impacts of climate change on the frequency and intensity of new disasters.
Perhaps one of the more notable changes over the past hundred years is the increase in precipitation amounts and intensity. The image above, courtesy of the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA), shows that statewide annual precipitation has increased 5.6” since the late 1800s, with even higher amounts in southern Indiana. Indiana weather stations are seeing an increasing number of +2” rainfall events, and across the Midwest the amount of water falling in the heaviest downpours has increased by 42% since the 1950s.
Over the next 50 years, scientists expect Indiana’s annual rainfall to increase by 6 to 8 percent, with significantly more falling in the winter and spring months and declining rainfall in the summer and fall. The report indicates that Indiana will continue to see an increase in heavy rainfall events.
Many of Indiana's most damaging and widespread floods occur in the early spring. With the projected increases in future precipitation, specifically in the spring months, this puts Indiana at increased risk for saturated soils, runoff, and flooding.
In addition to extreme temperatures and rainfall evidence, new research appears to demonstrate that while “national annual frequencies of tornado reports have remained relatively constant, […] significant spatially-varying temporal trends in tornado frequency have occurred since 1979” ( Gensini & Brooks, 2018 ). Indiana is one of the states showing this upward trend. Historically, tornadoes occurred most frequently in the southwest, over less populated areas. This increased frequency and spatial varying will put more residents and property at risk, while increasing response and recovery costs.
Tornado Environment Frequency Trends
Flooding in Indiana
Of the many natural hazards faced by Indiana, flooding can often have the most widespread destruction at a time. Flooding in Indiana principally occurs in the winter or early spring months as a result of snow melts, but they can occur at any time. Most recently, Indiana faced statewide devastation following the February 2018 flooding. Counties in northwestern Indiana and those bordering the Ohio River faced record flooding levels from mid to late February through early March of 2018. The event received a disaster declaration later that same year and as of early 2019, dollars awarded from public and individual assistance are estimated to be around $11 million.
February 2018 Flooding Impacts the Town of Aurora, Dearborn County, in Southern Indiana. (iImage credit: Michael McCarter & Carrie Cochran/The Cincinnati Enquirer via USA Today Network)
Indiana's Potential Flooding Risk
As part of the 2019 Indiana State Hazard Mitigation Plan Update, the planning team modeled the potential impacts, statewide, of a 100-year flood event. Using a FEMA-sanctioned software called HAZUS, the team gathered the following updated input and hazard data:
- Standard Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRM) for the State of Indiana
- HAZUS-generated depth grid
- Statewide building inventory layer
Results estimated that a total of 57,377 buildings could potentially be impacted and damaged in the event of a flood. The damage amounts were calculated using a building's replacement cost and were estimated in the $5.3 million dollar range.
The map to the right shows the ratio of potentially damaged buildings to total buildings located in a county.
IDNR's Floodplain Information Portal
Another important dataset used by the planning team was IDNR's Best Available Data. IDNR has made a huge effort to map previously un-mapped streams statewide and provide that data to local governments. This effort not only provides more detailed information to help in local planning efforts, but also shows how Indiana continues to lead in statewide flood mapping efforts.
While this flood layer is not yet regulatory, in the sense that it is not yet used for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), it is meant for community leaders to use in their planning efforts. This data can be viewed in detail at the INdiana Floodplain Information Portal website.
Indiana's Flood Mitigation Practices
While Indiana faces a great many challenges when it comes to flooding, the state is also very active in seeking out mitigation funding to lessen the impacts of flooding. Over the past 30 years, communities throughout the state have worked with the IDHS Mitigation Program to apply for and receive FEMA grant funding to voluntarily acquire and demolish over 1,200 flood-prone residential properties. This type of mitigation eliminates the flood risk to the participating homeowners and increases the natural flood storage of the area.
Additionally, Indiana continues its commitment to the NFIP by encouraging flood prone communities to participate. To date, 34 communities statewide participate in an NFIP program called the Community Rating System (CRS). This program offers discounts to policyholders based on a community's dedication to flood mitigation.
Building More Resilient Communities: Fort Wayne's Promenade Park
One way Indiana communities are building resilience against flooding is by converting frequently flooded areas into community green spaces. Promenade Park , located in Fort Wayne (Allen County), opened in the summer of 2019. In 2015, the first conceptual plan for the park was shared with the community to take an area frequently plagued by flooding from the St. Mary's River, and convert that space into a riverfront park for city and county residents to enjoy. In early August 2019, the park opened and phase 1 of a much larger project, Riverfront Fort Wayne , was completed.
Older Google Earth imagery shows what the area was like before development.
The overall goal of the project is to create a riverfront space that citizens can enjoy, while also creating a natural healthy environment resilient to natural hazards. As natural hazards are increasing in frequency and intensity, communities recognize the need to build themselves to higher standards in order to ride out these problems. Fort Wayne's Promenade Park and the Riverfront Fort Wayne project show how Indiana communities are adapting to Indiana's changing climate.
Recent photo of Promenade Park (image credit: City of Fort Wayne's Parks and Recreation website.)
Drought in Indiana
Indiana is no stranger to droughts and the impacts have, at times, stressed the agricultural industry that is so prominent in the state. A drought, in its simplest definition , is the absence of water which is often the result of a lack of rainfall. However, excessive heat can lead to increased evaporation, which can enhance drought conditions. Drought data was primarily pulled from the United States Drought Monitor website which offers current and historic drought reports.
Indiana’s most recent significant drought occurred in 2012. The month of March was characterized by record-breaking warmth, which resulted in an early start to the growing season. This, combined with lack of precipitation from the 2011-2012 winter, led to abnormally dry conditions across the state in April. From July through December, more than half of the state was under a moderate drought (D1) or worse. In July, 51% of the state experienced a severe drought, and in August, 7% of the state was in an exceptional drought. Lack of rainfall and extreme temperatures devastated crops and impaired livestock feed and water supplies across Indiana. The graphic below illustrates how drought conditions spread across the state from early June 2012 through early November 2012.
Indiana's Drought Mitigation Practices
According to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), agriculture contributes an estimated $31.2 billion to Indiana's economy, and the state is the 8th largest agricultural exporter in the nation. As such, the potential impacts of even a short drought to Indiana's economy are high.
In the previous state plan, the planning team identified several drought-related actions they wanted to work on in the coming years. The most notable of these projects, which has been accomplished, is the establishment of a weekly drought monitor call. This call involves members of IDHS , IDNR , the National Weather Service ( NWS ), the Indiana Department of Environmental Management ( IDEM ), the Midwestern Regional Climate Center ( MRCC ), the Indiana State Climate Office , and the Purdue Extension Office . These calls focus on current drought conditions, upcoming predicted weather discussions, and potential impacts resulting from any future events. These calls help to ensure that members in different areas of Indiana's government are communicating and working as a team to prepare for drought in the state.
Additionally, the State Plan update includes many strategies that the state hopes to work on in the coming years to better prepare for drought. Some of these include developing water resource plans that coordinate local and state level efforts to conserve water, and coordinating a drought council to meet regularly and discuss how the state can better plan for drought.
More information on how Indiana is preparing for and mitigating against drought can be found here .
Indiana's Vulnerable Populations and Their Disaster Risk
One important aspect of the 2019 Indiana State Plan update was addressing disasters and their impacts to those people in the community deemed to be particularly vulnerable. Although there are numerous types of vulnerable populations, IDHS has identified five significant groups: low-income citizens, older adults, non-English-speaking people, people with disabilities, and people without high school diplomas. The top 5 counties with the highest percentage in each category are listed below.
The maps in the section below highlight how these vulnerable populations have changed over the last decade and a half, from 1990 through 2017. Just as Indiana is becoming more aware of the changing natural environment, so too must we pay attention to the demographic changes in the state and how they impact a community's ability to respond to a disaster.
This map shows the change in percentages of people with no high school diploma. There was a decrease in the percentage of people without a high school diploma in every Indiana county.
The relationship between education and disaster vulnerability is not well understood. However, education is often associated with both income and poverty. Those with higher education are more likely to have higher incomes and more resources upon which to rely in the event of a disaster.
This map shows the change in percentage of people from 1990 to 2017 that are considered to be living in poverty. Some counties did see a decrease in the percentage of people in poverty over the last decade.
Disasters disproportionately affect impoverished populations because they are less likely to have the resources to cope with a disaster’s impacts, which further entrenches them in the poverty cycle.
The map to the right shows the change in percentage of people age 65 and older from 1990 to 2017. Brown County has seen one of the largest increases in people age 65 and older while some of the more urban counties have seen a smaller increase.
As the baby boomer generation continues to age, the percent elderly population will increase. Older adults face many of the same challenges as disabled people, including lack of transportation and physical or mental impairments. Additionally, many older adults may require medication or specialized healthcare.
Indiana's Continued Work in Mitigation
County mitigation plans are a starting point for local mitigation planning efforts and as such, FEMA and IDHS place a heavy importance on counties having updated plans. IDHS works yearly to secure funding for Indiana counties to update their plans which, like the state plan, have to be updated every 5 years. FEMA's Local Mitigation Planning Handbook provides more information.
For more information on your county's mitigation plan, you are encouraged to reach out to your local Emergency Management Agency to see when the next plan update process will start. Counties rely on local information and public participation in order to update their plans to accurately reflect the hazards facing the community.
Updated Mitigation Plan Status
Since the update of the State Plan, many of the counties shown above in red or orange have had their mitigation plan updates approved, pushing Indiana to have over 80% of the population covered by a county mitigation plan.
