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.
