38 DECEMBER 2005 • A SELF-HELP GUIDE • LONG-TERM COMMUNITY RECOVERY PLANNING PROCESS
Chapter II
Step 6
Identifying the
LTCR Issues
LTCR
• Critical Government Support - Unlike most planning efforts, LTCR provides an
opportunity to work collaboratively with every level of government. For a very
brief period, the federal, state, and local government will be supporting your
efforts with time and financial assistance. It's up to you to organize the support
quickly, check in often, and keep the focus on your community!
• Community Healing - Every community survives disaster in their own way.
Mourning the loss of life and absorbing personal and financial devastation are an
important part of the process. In light of that, LTCR provides the community an
opportunity to gather resolve and spirit, progress forward, and heal through the
active process of rebuilding together. This may indeed be the most important
opportunity of them all.
When do we begin to identify
Issues?
Issue identification begins with initia-
tion of the LTCR process. What issues
existed prior to the disaster? Review
existing plans and studies for the area.
Meet with community leaders, commu-
nity organizations and agencies, private
sector interests, and neighborhood
groups to identify issues that have aris-
en from the disaster. Use subsequent
community meetings to further
expand and refine those issues and
begin to identify projects that might
address the issues.
"Make No Little Plans"
As Daniel Burnham, a renowned urban
planner at the turn or the 19th Century,
once said, "Make no little plans.They
have no magic to stir men's blood.
Make big plans…." In other words, take
inspiration from the resiliency of your
community and, in turn, let your
Recovery Plan inspire - Think Big.In
past LTCR initiatives, private sector
developers have been motivated to
invest in the communities where the
projects identified were born from the
community, captivated the imagina-
tion, and had commitment from the
leadership. Promoting an inspirational
LTCR plan will create the "magic" need-
ed to progress it into implementation.
In short, necessary elements for suc-
cessful planning are in place - you have
big ideas; the public's attention and
will; financial support from federal,
STEP 6 • IDENTIFYING THE LTCR ISSUES
HAZARD MITIGATION
OPPORTUNITIES
Don't overlook the opportunity to take
actions to reduce or eliminate risks from
future disasters. Hazard mitigation plan-
ning is an important aspect of a success-
ful mitigation program. States and com-
munities use the hazard mitigation plan-
ning process to set short and long-range
mitigation goals and objectives. Hazard
mitigation planning is a collaborative
process whereby hazards affecting the
community are identified, vulnerability
to the hazards are assessed, and consen-
sus reached on how to minimize or elim-
inate the effects of these hazards. Two
programs you should be aware of and
consider as part of the LTCR effort are
Hazard Mitigation Section 404 and
Section 406. The state is responsible for
the Section 404 program (Hazard
Mitigation Grant Program-HMGP) and
Section 406 funds are used to reduce or
eliminate future damage to facilities
impacted during the disaster. In recog-
nition of the importance of planning,
States with an approved enhanced State
Mitigation Plan in effect at the time of
disaster declaration may receive addi-
tional HMGP funding. A more detailed
overview of these and other Mitigation
programs is provided in STEP 11,
PREPARING A LTCR FUNDING STRATEGY.