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Texas has experienced numerous major natural disasters as a result of tornadoes, hurricanes, freezes, and floods that were severe enough to require federal disaster declarations by the President. A Presidential declaration is sought by the state when the magnitude of the event meets certain criteria or when levels of destruction exceed the state and local jurisdiction’s capability to respond in an appropriate manner. Lesser disasters may be responded to by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to augment assistance provided by state and local government agencies to disaster victims. Numerous other disasters do not reach the presidential disaster declaration or SBA criteria levels but do require state assistance to supplement local resources.

Despite the City of Abilene having a minimal history of significant disaster events, the potential is definitely present, as has been witnessed in other parts of Texas. During the period 1961 through 1995, 216 counties of the 254 counties in Texas received federal assistance in the form of Presidential and SBA declarations. These events range from prolonged droughts to life threatening chemical spills, fires, explosions, tornadoes, floods and hurricanes.

In each of these and other disasters, state and local officials are called upon to respond to the needs of the affected citizens and communities. The effective response of Abilene or any other community to a disaster is directly related to its degree of emergency management planning, training, exercising, and disaster mitigation programs in place.

Before the Abilene community can plan how to deal with potential disasters, the hazards that can lead to those disasters must be identified and priorities for action must be assigned. The initial step in this approach is the systematic analysis of the hazards that our community faces.

This is considered to be a dynamic document wherein additions, updates, and corrections will be ongoing as dictated by the evolving demographics of this community. Any questions or comments concerning this document or any recommendations concerning future editions should be addressed to:





People and property in the City of Abilene are at risk from a variety of hazards that have the potential for causing widespread loss of lives and damage to property, the infrastructure, and the environment.

While damages from various natural, technological and man-made hazards will occur, a proactive community mitigation strategy can reduce personal risk and property losses. A local Hazards Analysis allows jurisdictional decision-makers to prioritize projects and resources to provide citizens better protection from a number of hazards. A local risk assessment and vulnerability analysis are the initial steps in mitigating against loss of life and property in our community. An informed public is a community's greatest asset toward ensuring a safer community.

	Likelihood of Occurrence*	Estimated Impact on Public Health & Safety	Estimated Impact on Property
Hazard Type:	(See below)	Limited---Moderate---Major	Limited---Moderate---Major
Natural
Drought	Likely	Limited	Moderate
Earthquake	Unlikely	Limited	Limited
Flash Flooding	Likely	Moderate	Moderate
Flooding (river or tidal)	Unlikely	Limited	Limited
Hurricane	Unlikely	Limited	Limited
Subsidence	Unlikely	Limited	Limited
Tornado	Occasional	Major	Major
Wildfire	Likely	Moderate	Moderate
Winter Storm	Likely	Moderate	Moderate
Technological
Dam Failure	Unlikely	Limited	Limited
Energy/Fuel Shortage	Occasional	Moderate	Moderate
Hazmat/Oil Spill (fixed site)	Occasional	Moderate	Limited
Hazmat/Oil Spill (transport)	Likely	Major	Moderate
Major Structural Fire	Likely	Moderate	Major
Nuclear Facility Incident	Unlikely	Limited	Limited
Water System Failure	Unlikely	Moderate	Moderate
Security
Civil Disorder	Unlikely	Moderate	Moderate
Enemy Military Attack	Unlikely	Major	Major
Terrorism	Unlikely	Major	Moderate
* Likelihood of Occurrence: Unlikely, Occasional, Likely, or Highly Likely

The intent of this document is to identify the hazards having caused or possessing the potential to cause disaster situations in our community. As the first published Hazards Analysis for the City of Abilene, this document provides a cursory overview of our hazards, any associated risks, and the related vulnerable populations and geographic areas. Ongoing analyses of the risks and vulnerabilities will provide supplemental, as well as updated details. Consequently, this document should be viewed as a dynamic project and responsibility of this Office of Emergency Management.


To obtain the complete text of the Hazard Analysis document, contact the Office of Homeland Security at afdoem@abilenetx.com or (325) 676-6683.

Homeland Security

Abilene's Hazards Analysis

Emergency Preparedness Checklist