Mitigation

Mitigation is the long-term effort aimed at reducing potential, disastrous outcomes from the occurrence or impact of a hazardous event or danger. The United Nations (UN) defines mitigation as “the lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters.” Mitigation efforts seek to reduce the number of people and communities affected and to diminish disruption to daily activities in the event of a disaster. Although mitigation efforts take place before an event, they tend to be motivated by a previous disaster. Therefore, although mitigation is defined as proactive, concerted efforts aimed at disaster reduction, tend to emerge in reaction to a disaster. Mitigation is not considered part of the emergency phase. Nevertheless, most funding for mitigation comes after an emergency. One of the main challenges of mitigation efforts is that it includes players outside of traditional emergency-management organizations.

Mitigation efforts involve politicians, land-use planners, construction companies, business owners, insurance companies, government officials, community leaders, and professional associations. Until the mid-1990s, mitigation was a concept predominantly discussed in the United States. Moreover, in the mid-1990s, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency launched a concerted effort to promote the adoption of mitigation policies. Since the mid-19th century, disaster initiatives by the federal government have evolved from loosely organized and reactionary activities to national governments assuming responsibility for public safety, to specific units within the government coordinating mitigation efforts, to collaboration among government units in mitigation initiatives, and more recently to efforts aimed at encouraging public engagement in mitigation efforts and capacity building at the community level.

In Programs and Policies That Ought to be Implemented for Coping With Future Disasters, E. L. Quarantelli presents six ways to improve disaster policies and mitigation efforts. First, disasters must be acknowledged as social occasions that require management. Quarantelli highlights that technology should be used to assist personnel but that human fallibility should not be ignored when technological innovations are adopted. Second, there must be continued movement toward an all-hazards approach. Instead of programs focused on specific hazardous agents, common sociobehavioral elements and features of disasters must continue to be identified. Third, mitigation must be a priority. More importantly, it should never be reduced to engineering structural changes aimed at strengthening infrastructure.

Fourth, mitigation efforts should extend and integrate everyday decision making about community development. Policymakers should pay attention to development, access to resources, and community-building policies, programs, and regulations. Fifth, mitigation efforts should explore the links between disasters with a rapid onset and environmental problems as a way to maximize the use of resources and understand how disasters and environmental problems hinder development. Finally, mitigation initiatives can be strengthened by the appropriate use of technology. While there is a tendency among emergency responders and policymakers to perceive technology as vital in the response phase, technology can be more vital for hazard identification and mitigation.