Agenda - 05-06-2010 - 4m - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orange County Hazard History 1956-2008 Property&Crop Date T e of Event Ma nitude* Deaths** In uries*" Dama e $"" 1/19/2008 Winter Storm N/ 2/13/2008 Winter Storm N/ 12/15/2005 Winter Weather/Mix N/ 1 3 1/18/2007 Winter Weather N/ 1/21/2007 Winter Weather N/ 12/07/2007 Winter Weather N/ 20,000 1/17/2008 Winter Weather N/ 1/19/2008 Winter Weather N/ *-Hail:diameter in inches;Tornado:Fujita category(1 to 5);Wind:speed in knots. **-Value is"0"if cell is empty ***-includes damages outside Orange County Source of data: North Carolina Division of Emergency Management. B. Vulnerability Assessment Vulnerability to a natural hazard can be defined as "the extent to which people experience harm and property damage from a hazazd". These hazards can result in the loss of life and property damages in the millions. The impact felt may take years to overcome. It is important to know where and to what extent the community is susceptible to the impacts of natural and technological hazards. Vulnerability to hazards can be assessed in both the present and future. The current level of development and infrastructure generates a set of conditions,which results in every area of the community being vulnerable to some hazard. This level will change with future increases or decreases of population,development and whether the community implements or ignores hazard mitigation. Future vulnerability should not increase because Orange County, the Town of Carrboro and the Town of Hillsborough land use policies,ordinances, and regulations prohibit development in vulnerable(especially flood prone) areas. Each governmental jurisdiction covered by this Hazard Mitigation Plan shares the same level of vulnerability to each type of hazard; the only difference being the exact location of the hazard(i.e.: each jurisdiction could be impacted by a dam breach but since there are many dams within the county, one jurisdiction may be impacted while another is not). No jurisdiction is more"at risk"to a particular hazard than any other jurisdiction included in this Plan. Orange County is centrally located in the piedmont of North Carolina and contains 400 square miles. The 2000 Census recorded a population of 115,531 with 66,330 of these residents in the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. A unique feature of Orange County is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The student population of the university adds approximately 25,000 people to the County's population during the school year. Orange County has several major highways to include I-40/85,US 70, 15/501, and NC 54, 57, 86, and 157. There are portions of three major river basins—Cape Fear,Neuse, and Roanoke-that are located in the county. 37