Floodplain Disaster Mitigation Related Services

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WE PROVIDE

  • Public Information Program (Community Outreach)
  • Flood Warning System Program
  • Warn residents and agencies of impending floodwaters on major rivers so they can take action and prepare themselves before serious flooding occurs. In most locations, the warning system provides at least 2 hours lead time before floodwaters reach damaging levels. This program does not take the place of individuals and local groups making their own flood disaster plans.
  • Wind Protection
      • Community Safe Rooms
      • Long term recovery
  • Floodplain Property Protection
  • Elevation and Flood Proofing Certificates

 

  • Our department maintains elevation and flood proofing certificates on file for all approved developments.
  • Map Determinations and Flood Zone Information
  • Flood Protection Library
  • Drainage System Maintenance
  • All Hazards Awareness Week
  • Implement City-wide Flood Mitigation/Storm Water Management Plan
  • Acquisition and Relocation
  • Low Density Zoning
  • Computerized Flood Data Maintenance
  • Debris Removal Assistance and Drainage System Maintenance
  • Warning Sirens

The sirens are designed to alert people who are outside their homes of approaching danger. They are not designed to alert people on the inside of their home. They are one part of a three-part system where the NOAA alert radio and the news media make up the other two components of the emergency notification system.

The appropriate response is to move inside and get information on the approaching hazard and directions for the appropriate actions to take. NOAA broadcasts the hazard information and the protective actions over the alert radio, and by the media over some radio and television stations.

The Jefferson County Emergency Warning System is sounded whenever a tornado warning is issued within 20 miles or a funnel cloud has been seen in the area. Once the Tornado Warning has been issued, the sirens will activate for three minutes followed by silence for seven minutes. This activation cycle will continue until the weather warning is cancelled. When the weather warning has been cancelled, the sirens will no longer activate.

Tornado Warning: A Tornado Warning is issued when a tornado has been sighted or is eminent. Seek safety and move to a safe place immediately.

Tornado Watch: In a Tornado Watch, the conditions are favorable for a tornado. Listen to your local radio or television station for further details. Be prepared to move to a safe place.

Monthly Testing: The outdoor warning sirens are tested the first Tuesday of each month at 10:00am, weather permitting. During this test, the sirens are activated for 30 seconds. The sirens are not tested during potential bad weather to avoid confusion.

An NOAA alert radio is especially important during the times you are indoors and do not have the television or radio on. It sounds a tone for about 20 seconds and then announces what danger is imminent and the protective actions to take.

Note that the radio is no longer called a “Weather Alert Radio”. Instead, it is called an “Alert Radio”. The difference is that the radio will now alert for dangerous conditions other that just weather. One example might be a hazardous spill that may be sending a toxic plume toward a populated area. The newer radios are programmable for the types of hazards for which you want to be warned, and your county of residence. By limiting the hazards and counties, the programmable radios do not alert you to impending danger not in the area.

If you do not have a NOAA alert radio we highly recommend that you invest in one. No matter which brand you get we recommend a model that can be programmed for specific counties and specific hazards.

Straight lined-winds is wind that comes out of a thunderstorm once the winds meet and exceed 58 miles per hours then the storm is classified as severe by the National Weather Service. These winds are produced by the downward momentum in the downdraft region of a thunderstorm. A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as twisters or cyclones, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology, in a wider sense, to name any closed low pressure circulation. Tornadoes come in many shapes and sizes, but they are typically in the form of a visible condensation funnel, whose narrow end touches the earth and is often encircled by a cloud of debris and dust.

 RESOURCES

 FEMA

 Technical Bulletins

 The Technical Bulletins provide guidance concerning the building performance standards of the NFIP, which are contained in Title 44 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations at Section 60.3. The bulletins are intended for use primarily by State and local officials responsible for in­terpreting and enforcing NFIP regulations and by members of the development community, such as design professionals and builders. New bulletins, as well as updates of existing bul­letins, are issued periodically as needed. The bulletins do not create regulations; rather they provide specific guidance for complying with the minimum requirements of existing NFIP regulations.

Information for this page was taken from the below listed links.  If you want more information please click on the following links..

Storm Water Management Plan

Storm Water Management Plan (2.96 MiB)

Alabama Flood Advisory & NFIP Plain Talk

2014-Aug AL-NFIP-Advisor FINAL (1.38 MiB)