Consultants Develop Post Disaster Redevelopment Plan in Florida Pilot Program
Six Florida Counties Pave the Way for Possible Statewide Initiative
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- A yearlong pilot study of post disaster planning involving six Florida counties is being developed into a best practices guidebook for other counties interested in developing Post Disaster Redevelopment Planning (PDRP) programs.
In Florida only the coastal counties are currently mandated to have post disaster redevelopment plans. Due to lessons learned from recent devastating disasters, the State of Florida is now re-evaluating these requirements and the potential ramifications on inland communities as well.
The need for long-term post disaster planning gained national notoriety in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Ivan, Frances and Andrew, which left behind monumental issues for impacted communities, involving procedures, policies and protocols for post disaster redevelopment and guidelines for everything from housing, land use, environmental restoration and improvement and cultural preservation to social, health and equity concerns.
While New Orleans, Galveston and areas along the Gulf Coast are still struggling with redevelopment issues several years after hurricanes, the State of Florida with federal grant funding decided to initiate a pilot program that would encompass all of the above issues. Florida is the first state to launch such a program.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Calvin, Giordano & Associates (CGA), which as a member of the pilot program planning team worked with Polk County, interacted with community, business, county and city departments to address such post disaster issues as debris removal, disaster housing, water management, economic redevelopment, building and historical preservation, infrastructure, and health and human services.
Beth McElroy, MPA, CEM, Senior Emergency Management Planner with CGA, said Polk County, which encompasses 17 municipalities, was affected by Hurricane Charley in 2004, which cut a devastating swatch of destruction across several Florida counties causing $18.6 billion in damages.
"Being inland is certainly no safeguard against the fury of hurricanes or any other natural or man-made disaster," she said. "For example, 40 percent of the land in Polk County is in a flood zone and the area is home to a large number of mobile homes and ecologically sensitive areas."
McElroy said co-operation and compliance on a countywide scale was key to the PDRP process, which involved regional land use, transportation and utilities among many other critical considerations that impacted the study. Polk County Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution last month adopting the PDRP plan.
CGA, www.calvin-giordano.com, was one of three consultants selected to work with pilot inland counties, which include Polk, Manatee, Hillsboro, Nassau, Sarasota, as well as the municipality of Panama City.
CGA's work in the central Florida region has also made the company sensitive to the challenges facing these communities. As experts in both emergency management and urban planning, CGA has the expertise in planning for both the immediate post disaster response needs of the victims as well as the long-term redevelopment challenges of the community.
About Calvin, Giordano & Associates
CGA is an innovative consulting firm that offers a comprehensive approach to engineering, land planning, government regulatory compliance and data technologies and development. CGA, which is based in Fort Lauderdale, employs approximately 200 people. For more information about CGA and its services, call 954-921-7781 or go to CGA's website at www.calvin-giordano.com.
