- Draft Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 3 Vulnerability Assessment

3.1 Requirements

The goal of mitigation is to reduce the future impacts of a hazard including loss of life, property damage, and disruption to local and regional economies, environmental damage and disruption, and the amount of public and private funds spent to assist with recovery. Mitigation efforts begin with a comprehensive risk assessment. A risk assessment measures the potential loss from a disaster event caused by an existing hazard by evaluating the vulnerability of buildings, infrastructure, and people. It identifies the characteristics and potential consequences of hazards and their impact on community assets.

Federal Requirements for Risk Assessment

Federal regulations for hazard mitigation plans outlined in 44 CFR Section §201.6(c)(2) include a requirement for a risk assessment. This risk assessment requirement is intended to provide information that will help the community identify and prioritize mitigation activities that will prevent or reduce losses from the identified hazards. The federal criteria for risk assessments and information on how the MHMP meets those criteria are outlined below:

Section 201.6(c)(2) of the mitigation planning regulation requires local jurisdictions to provide sufficient hazard and risk information from which to identify and prioritize appropriate mitigation actions to reduce losses from identified hazards. (FEMA 386-8)

Table 8. Risk Assessment – Federal Requirements

Section §201.6(c)(2) Requirement	Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Where it is Addressed in Plan
Identifying Hazards §201.6(c)(2)(i) The risk assessment shall include a description of the type . . . of all natural hazards that can affect the jurisdiction . . .	Section 2, identifies severe weather (hurricanes, blizzards, thunderstorms and tornadoes), wildfire, and erosion as natural hazards to be profiled in the Dennis MHMP.
Profiling Hazards §201.6(c)(2)(i) The risk assessment shall include a description of the . . . location and extent of all natural hazards that can affect the jurisdiction. The plan shall include information on previous occurrences of hazard events and on the probability of future hazard events.	Section 2, Risk Assessment, includes hazard-specific sections in the. The MHMP profiles the natural hazards that may affect the area. The MHMP includes location, extent, probability, impact and previous occurrences for each natural hazard identified. .
Assessing Vulnerability: Overview §201.6(c)(2)(i) The risk assessment shall include a description of the jurisdiction’s vulnerability to the hazards described in paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section. This description shall include an overall summary of each hazard and its impact on the community.	Section 3, Assessing Vulnerabilities contains overall summaries of each hazard and the impacts on the community are contained in each hazard specific section in Section 3.3.
Assessing Vulnerability: Addressing Repetitive Loss Properties §201.6(c)(2)(ii)The risk assessment in all plans approved after October 1, 2008 must also address National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) insured structures that have been repetitively damaged floods.	The Town of Dennis participates in the NFIP, Repetitive Loss information is provided to the extent feasible given privacy concerns.
Assessing Vulnerability: Identifying Structures §201.6(c)(2)(ii)(A) The plan should describe vulnerability in terms of the types and number of existing and future buildings, infrastructure, and critical facilities located in the identified hazard areas.	Section 3.2, identifies critical facilities located in the profiled hazard areas.
Assessing Vulnerability: Estimating Potential Losses §201.6(c)(2)(ii)(B) The plan should describe vulnerability in terms of an estimate of the potential dollar losses to vulnerable structures identified in paragraph (c)(2)(ii)(A) of this section and a description of the methodology used to prepare the estimate.	Section 3.6, estimates potential dollar losses to vulnerable structures.

Vulnerability Assessment Methodology

The goal of mitigation is to reduce the future impacts of a hazard including loss of life, property damage, and disruption to local and regional economies, environmental damage and disruption, and the amount of public and private funds spent to assist with recovery. Mitigation efforts begin with a comprehensive risk assessment. A risk assessment measures the potential loss from a disaster event caused by an existing hazard by evaluating the vulnerability of people, buildings, and infrastructure. It identifies the characteristics and potential consequences of hazards and their impact on community assets. A risk assessment typically consists of three components; hazards identification, vulnerability assessment and risk analysis.

1. Hazards Identification – The first step in conducting a risk assessment is to identify, profile hazards, and their possible effects on the jurisdiction. This information can be found in Section 2. Risk Assessment.

2. Vulnerability Assessment – Step 2 is to identify the jurisdiction’s vulnerability; the people, infrastructure and property that are likely to be affected. It includes everyone who enters the jurisdiction including employees, commuters, shoppers, tourists, and others. Populations with special needs such as children, the elderly, and the disabled should be considered; as should facilities such as the hospital, health clinic, senior housing and schools because of their additional vulnerability to hazards. Inventorying the jurisdiction’s assets to determine the number of buildings, their value, and population in hazard areas can also help determine vulnerability. A jurisdiction with many high-value buildings in a high-hazard zone will be extremely vulnerable to financial devastation brought on by a disaster event. Identifying hazard prone critical facilities is vital because they are necessary during response and recovery phases.

Critical facilities include:

• Essential facilities, which are necessary for the health and welfare of an area and are essential during response to a disaster, including hospitals, fire stations, police stations, and other emergency facilities;

• Transportation systems such as highways, airways and waterways;

• Utilities, water treatment plants, communications systems, power facilities;

• High potential loss facilities such as bulk fuel storage facilities; and

• Hazardous materials sites.

• Other items to identify critical facilities include economic elements, areas that require special considerations, historic, cultural and natural resource areas and other jurisdiction-determined important facilities.

3. Risk Analysis – The next step is to calculate the potential losses to determine which hazard will have the greatest impact on the jurisdiction. Hazards should be considered in terms of their frequency of occurrence and potential impact on the jurisdiction. For instance, a possible hazard may pose a devastating impact on a community but have an extremely low likelihood of occurrence. Such a hazard must take lower priority than a hazard with only moderate impact but a very high likelihood of occurrence. For example, there might be several schools exposed to one hazard but one school may be exposed to four different hazards. A multi-hazard approach will identify such high-risk areas and indicate where mitigation efforts should be concentrated. The purpose of a vulnerability assessment is to identify the assets of a community that are susceptible to damage should a hazard incident occur. Facilities are designated in the plan as critical if they are: (1) vulnerable due to the type of occupant (children, disabled or elderly for example); (2) critical to the community’s ability to function (roads, power generation facilities, water treatment facilities, etc.); (3) have a historic value to the community (museum, cemetery); or (4) critical to the community in the event of a hazard occurring (emergency shelter, etc.). This hazard plan includes an inventory of critical facilities from the records and land use map. The description of each of the identified hazards includes a narrative and in some cases a map of the following information:

 The location or geographical area(s) of the hazard in the community.

 The extent (i.e. magnitude or severity) of potential hazard events.

To establish a planning baseline, the Town used the “Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA) Map” (Section 2) generated by the Cape Cod Commission to review locations of critical facilities and infrastructure in the context of Hazard Mitigation Planning. During review and discussion forty-five (45) critical facilities were identified with twenty-three (23) facilities located within a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) and Sea, Lake, and Overland Surge from Hurricanes (SLOSH) areas.

3.2 Dennis’s Critical Facilities

Table 9: Critical Facilities and Infrastructure:

ID #	FACILITY NAME	STREET	FACILITY     TYPE	SLOSH*  Y/N	SFHA**  Y/N
1	Emergency Operations Center (Police Station)	90 Bob Crowell Road	A/B	No	No
2	Nathaniel Wixon Middle School	901 Route 134	A/G	No	No
3	Ezra Baker School	810 Route 28	A/G	Yes	No
4	Council on Aging/Senior Center	1045 Route 134	A/J	No	No
5	Carleton Hall	1006 Old Bass River Road	A/D	No	No
6	Jacob Sears Memorial Library	23 Center Street	A/D	No	No
7	Town Hall	485 Main Street	A/D	No	No
8	Eagle Pond Rehab and Living Center	1 Love Lane	A/H	No	No
9	Tony Kent Skating Ice Arena	8 South Gages Way	A/J	No	No
10	Fire Headquarters	883 Route 28	B	No	No
11	Fire Station # 2	1015 Old Bass River Road	B	No	No
12	Town Hall Annex	465 Route 28	D	Yes	No
13	Water District	80 Old Bass River Road	D	No	No
14	Department of Public Works	120 Theophilus Smith Rd	D	No	No
15	Dennis Public Library	5 Hall Street	D	Yes	No
16	South Dennis Public Library	389 Main Street	D	Yes	No
17	Dennis Free Library	272 Main Street	D	No	No
18	Dennis Memorial Library	1020 Old Bass River Road	D	No	No
19	Dennis Landfill	Theophilus Smith Rd	F	No	No
20	Dennis Head Start/VIC Hall	Depot Street	D/G/I	Yes	No
21	Sunshine and Rainbow Nursery School	713 Route 6A	G	No	No
22	Play and Learn Day Care and Pre School	434 Route 134	G/I	No	No
23	Scargo Nursery School Inc.	218 Main Street	G	Yes	No
24	Village Senior and Handicap Housing	226 Old Bass River Road	H	No	No
25	Windmill Village Senior Housing	109 Upper County Road	H	Yes	No
26	Village Senior and Handicap Housing	167 Center Street	H	Yes	Yes
27	Lewis Gordon Senior Housing Apartments	1110 Route 134	H	No	No
28	Northside Village	11 Antonelli Circle	H	Yes	Yes
29	Dennis Animal Hospital Inc.	5 Beach Street	K	Yes	No
30	North Side Marina	351 Sesuit Neck Road	L	Yes	Yes
31	Bass River Marina	140 Route 28	L	Yes	Yes
32	Mayfair Boatyard	73 Old Mayfair Road	L	Yes	Yes
33	First Student Bus Operation Center	153A Upper County Road	M	Yes	Yes
34	Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority Operation Center	40 American Way	M	No	No
35	West Dennis Beach	44 Lighthouse Road	J	Yes	Yes
36	Mayflower Beach	62 Horsefoot Path	J	Yes	Yes
37	Corporation Beach	Corporation Road	J	Yes	Yes
38	Glendon Road Beach	155 Old Wharf Road	J	Yes	Yes
39	South Village Beach	South Village Road	J	Yes	Yes
40	Sea Street Beach	5 Sea Street (Dennisport)	J	Yes	Yes
41	Sea Street Beach	Sea Street (East Dennis)	J	Yes	Yes
42	Cold Storage Beach	Cold Storage Road	J	Yes	Yes
43	Johnny Kelley Park	Bob Crowell Road	J	No	No
44	Haigis Beach	97 Old Wharf Road	J	Yes	Yes
45	Chapin Beach	Chapin’s Beach Road	J	Yes	Yes

Critical Facilities and Infrastructure Key:

A Emergency Facilities/Shelters	G Schools
B Public Safety Facilities	H Nursing Homes/Elderly Housing
C Hospitals/ Acute Care Facilities	I Group Day Care Facilities
D Town Government Facilities	J Senior/Youth/Recreation Centers
E Infrastructure	K Designated Emergency Animal Shelters/Hospitals
F Hazardous Material Facilities	L Marinas/Boat Yards
M Transportation Facilities
* SLOSH = Sea, Lake, & overland surges from hurricanes	** SFHA = Special Flood Hazards Area as designated on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)

Of the twenty-three facilities located within the high hazard areas eighteen are town owned, and five privately owned.

3.3 Vulnerability Analysis

The Town used the RVA map identifying critical facilities to review potential vulnerabilities during the natural hazard events identified and described in Section 2: Hazard and Risk Assessment. To clearly and efficiently evaluate all of the potential natural hazards, the location and extent of possible specific areas were identified. The following chart was developed that grouped potential hazards identified cause and effects of each hazard and areas susceptible to damage.

Table 10: Descriptive Location Chart

NATURALHAZARD	CAUSE & EFFECT	LOCATION
FLOOD	Natural Inundation in the floodplain (caused by coastal storms; winter storms; northeasters; hurricanes) Coastal Flooding Episodic Erosion River Flooding Pond Flooding Infrastructure Failure Siltation Infrastructure Failure (caused by coastal storms; winter storms; northeasters; hurricanes; ice/snow melt) Bridge Failure Storm Drain Failure Culvert Failure Dam Failure Dike Failure	Areas of Coastal Flooding• West Dennis Beach • Chapin Beach• Mayflower Beach  • North Side Marina• Haigis Beach      • South Village Beach • Glendon Road Beach •Sea Street Beach • Cold Storage Beach  • Sea Street Beach • Corporation Beach Areas of River Flooding • Upper County Road Bridge over the Swan River • Bass River Marina • Mayfair Boatyard Areas of Episodic Erosion • Mayflower Beach    • Chapin’s Beach • Crowe’s Pasture  • West Dennis Beach Areas of Episodic Siltation • Sesuit Harbor                  • Bass River • Swan River        • Chase Garden Creek Deficient Infrastructure • Upper County Road Bridge over the Swan River • Route 28 Bridge over Swan River
WIND	Hurricanes Northeasters TornadoesRoofs Blowing Off Trees Downed	Roof Damage • Town Hall            • Ezra Baker School• Nathaniel Wixon School• Dennis Memorial Library • Dennis Public Library  • Town wide Trees Downed – Locations proximal to wind activity: Town wide
FIRE	Drought Wildfire Lightening StrikesUrban Fire	Wildfire Developed land / forested area interfaces:•  Crowes Pasture• Princess Beach/Scargo Hill• Old Chatham Rd Water District Lands • The Plashes • Shoop Gardens Urban Fire • Dennisport Village Center is blessed with many old buildings placed close together.  The Village was the scene of a major urban fire in the 1920’s which destroyed an entire block.  Construction standards of the 1920’s do not match modern fire safety standards, leaving this area once again at risk of an Urban Fire. • West Dennis, while not as compact as Dennisport shares many of the same urban fire concerns.  The older portions of town still bear resemblance to the original village settlement with shared, wood, walls.  This area is at significant risk should a fire begin in one of these older connected structures.
GEOLOGIC	Earthquakes Landslides Sink Holes	Structural Damage – Locations proximal to seismic activity:  According to Regional Hazard Risk Map II geologic activities have not been recorded.Loss of LandDennis, as is all of Cape Cod, is a sandbar.  There is always significant risk to the town due to coastal erosion.  Some portions of town have experienced significant areas of erosion over the town’s history.  Major storms, such as the Blizzard of 78 vastly altered the coastline.  Lesser storms, including a Northeaster in June of 2009 also have had significant impacts.  Barrier Beach erosion at places like West Dennis Beach or Chapin’s Beach could severely affect the lands behind these barrier beaches.Wave Inundation Dennis has several areas protected by barrier beaches.  These barrier beaches protect lands in Dennis, Yarmouth and Brewster from normal wave action.  These barrier beach areas are at risk both to wind erosion as well as wave inundation.  All three barrier beaches in town, West Dennis Beach, Chapin’s Beach and Crowe’s Pasture are all considered to be located within velocity zones and would be exposed to tremendous wave action and could be totally inundated in a 1% storm event.
OTHER	Snow & Ice Accumulation Chronic Erosion Sea Level Rise Sediment Deposition	Snow and Ice Accumulation• Most Private Roads• Trees along Scenic RoadsStreet Flooding/ Impassable Roads • Lower County Road • Route 28 at Bass River • Lighthouse Road • Route 28 at Swan River • Swan Pond Road • Old Main Street, So Dennis • Bridge Street • Nobscusset Road, • Beach Street • Upper County Road • Uncle Barney’s Road Structural damage • Docks, piers town wide Sediment Deposition • Sesuit Harbor • Bass River • Swan River • Chase Garden Creek

3.4 Shelter Adequacy Analysis

The best indicator is the type of event that would most likely result in a large-scale evacuation is a severe hurricane, however blizzards are far more common. The following tables attempt to show the impact of a full-scale evacuation during a severe hazard event. Table 6 depicts the existing shelter facilities and capacities; Table 7 estimates the vulnerable population. Based upon the analysis, there is some question as to whether the available shelter resources are capable of accommodating the at risk population for a severe hurricane. This is especially significant in that the shelter areas may need to support the population that may be at health risk (the elderly and the infirm) due to prolonged power outages.

Table 11: Public Shelter Facilities Capacities

Name /Address	Flood Potential	Generator	Food Service Capabilities?  Y/N	Handicap Accessible?  Y/N	Capacity @20 sq. ft / person
A)      Nathaniel Wixon Middle School901 Route 134	None	Y	Y	Y	7,082
B)       Ezra Baker School810 route 28	Yes SLOSH	Y	Y	Y	2,731
C)       Dennis Senior Center1045 Route 134	None	Y	Y	Y	959
D)    Carleton Hall1006 Bass RiverRoad	None	N	N	Y	309
D)      Town Hall485 Main Street	None	Y	N	Y	585
F)      Jacob SearsMemorialLibrary23 Center Street	None	N	N	Y	215
G)     VIC HallDepot Street	Yes SLOSH	N	N	Y	124
H)       DennisYarmouthHighSchool Regional Shelter Station Avenue, Yarmouth	None	Y	Y	Y	500
I)         Cape Cod Regional TechnicalHigh School 351 Pleasant Lake Ave Harwich, MA	None	Y	Y	Y	??
Total Capacity					12,505

Sheltering will focus on using the regional shelter (DYHS) first with the Wixon School as a backup. The Council on Aging facility would be the third choice. The Ezra Baker School would be the fourth alternative for sheltering in an extreme situation.

Table 12: Vulnerable and Evacuating Populations

Population
Population				Vulnerable Population**
Census	Permanent	Seasonal	Total	Permanent	Seasonal	Total
2000	15,973	37,475*	53,488*	5,087	11,935*	17,022*
*Information derived from the GIS layers as maintained by the Dennis Planning Dept., U.S. Census Block Group Data, Assessors Information on Residential Units, Motel Units and Seasonal Cottages.

As discussed earlier, there are about 5,087 people living year-round within the flood prone areas of Dennis. This figure increases dramatically in the summer time when 11,935 additional residents move into their seasonal homes, motel rooms and cottages – mostly within the waterfront areas of Dennisport and West Dennis. These people boost the summertime figure by some estimates to over 60,000 people in Dennis in July or August. Most of these hotel rooms, timeshares, cottages and condominium rentals are located in the most storm prone areas of Dennisport. The figures illustrate a likelihood that local shelter capabilities, in the summer time, could be overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who may need to be evacuated.

3.5 Evacuation Analysis

The ability to evacuate an area will truly depend on the storm forecast availability. NOAA and the National Weather Service provide significant, detailed analysis of Atlantic Hurricanes long before they reach the Cape Cod coastline. Obviously, if residents and visitors to Dennis heed the warnings of these storms, they would appear to be the easiest to prepare for and to stage a successful evacuation. Hurricanes and other tropical events provide the opportunity for people, if they take the warnings seriously, to entirely leave the area in an orderly fashion. Thus, while they occur in times when we have the greatest number of people here, they do provide an ability for evacuation over several days. Unfortunately, as happened with a Labor Day Weekend storm several years ago, people do not heed the warnings, wait for the last minute to leave, and generally get caught in traffic that takes hours to move short distances in – leading to traffic gridlock.

Even winter storms provide some level of predictability that was not present a few decades ago. Generally, however, these winter storms often gain strength in the late stages and can have larger impacts on the town than may have been predictable more than twenty-four hours out. Winter Storms clearly require a more localized approach. Looking at the shelters that are available in Dennis, only three are outfitted with generator capability. These three facilities provide capacity for slightly over 10,000 people – the crowded, 20 sf per person analysis of this report.

Dennis has an agreement with First Student Bus Company to provide four buses to the town for evacuations. The town did an exercise in June 2009 with First Student. The Barnstable County Regional Evacuation Planning Committee has since held an exercise using an Upper Cape Facility (Oak Ridge School in Sandwich) and in January 2010 an exercise is planned for the Cape Cod Regional Technical School. In order to ensure preparedness for evacuation needs Barnstable County communities plan to hold annual exercises with each regional shelter.

Limited warning events, such as severe thunderstorms, or no warning events such as a tornado or waterspout raise far more tension in the emergency management system. A severe thunderstorm or waterspout can appear quite suddenly on a warm summer day. Their appearance could push for a quick evacuation of town beaches and parking areas depending upon the event. Clearing an area such as West Dennis Beach could take quite a feat, as there is only one significant road leading out of the beach – Lighthouse Road. Traffic leaving Lighthouse Road is forced to stop at Lower County Road/South Main Street, from which evacuees will need to decide whether to proceed to School Street or Trotting Park Road. Similar emergency evacuation concerns would exist at all of the other south side beaches. Complicating the matter is that, at many of the Dennisport beaches, the beachgoers arrive on foot. A sudden severe weather event could clearly leave many people exposed to dangerous weather conditions.

3.6 Repetitive Loss Properties And Remediation

A key feature for protecting residents, is Dennis’ participation in the National Flood Insurance Program. NFIP provides a level of protection to homeowners living in a flood zone should they be impacted by flooding. As the flood maps in Section 2 illustrate the town has a significant land mass identified as subject to flooding. The maps also suggest that an even larger land mass is potentially exposed to flooding and may be added to NFIP in years to come.

NFIP data allows the town to track Repetitive Loss properties. These type of properties are a major issue in that they represent areas that have been impacted not just by one, but by several flood events.

As the following tables illustrate, there are 18 repetitive loss properties in Dennis. Fifteen are on the south side and three on the north side of town. This represents a two property increase since the last report in 2002. These two properties were on the north side of town. The overall value related to these repetitive loss properties is significant (Tables 9 and 10). Dennis also has a significant number of Flood Insurance policies in effect (Table 11).

Dennis has adopted building and zoning controls to push repetitive loss properties and other at risk properties towards flood protection standards. The town requires that any structure undergoing renovation valued at 50% of the buildings assessed value to comply with flood construction standards. Over the past several years these requirements have resulted in numerous structures being brought into compliance.

Table 13

Repetitive Loss Properties, Barnstable County (updated, 2009)

Loss Statistics of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), Cape Cod, Massachusetts: 1978 (start NFIP) – April 30, 2009
Town	Total Loss Claims	Closed Losses	Open Losses	CWOP Losses	Total Payments ($)
Barnstable	272	193	1	78	2,893,815.62
Bourne	460	377	0	83	5,435,069.19
Brewster	15	9	0	6	33,894.27
Chatham	129	95	0	34	2,508,901.93
Dennis	222	148	0	74	1,427,839.87
Eastham	64	51	0	13	388,704.45
Falmouth	619	472	0	147	9,091,548.94
Harwich	40	26	0	14	330,024.53
Mashpee	57	31	0	26	186,258.77
Orleans	47	36	0	11	631,910.35
Provincetown	167	104	0	63	1,293,769.57
Sandwich	129	94	0	35	1,096,722.24
Truro	25	9	0	16	79,359.70
Wellfleet	31	18	0	13	135,130.25
Yarmouth	217	119	0	98	879,940.13
Total for MA	26,747	21,332	13	5,402	281,565,104.97

CWOP – closed without payment

Source: Cape Cod Commission

Table 14: Repetitive Flood Losses (current through Dec. 2002)
Information provided by MEMA 1/14/04; 2003 data not yet available
VILLAGE	LOSSES	PAID	TYPE	FLOOD ZONE
East Dennis	3	$11,216.97	Single Family	A3 (EL 11)
West Dennis	3	$11,373.15	Single Family	V13 (EL 13)
Dennisport	2	$5,142.15	Single Family	A8 (EL 10)
West Dennis	2	$18,090.41	Single Family	V13 (EL 12)
West Dennis	2	$3,240.00	Single Family	A11 (EL11)
West Dennis	2	$55,925.15	Single Family	V13 (EL 13)
Dennisport	3	$31,379.70	Other Residential	V13 (EL 15)
Dennisport	2	$9,634.74	Other Residential	V13 (EL 13)
Dennisport	2	$26,335.25	Single Family	A11 (EL 11)
West Dennis	4	$66,506.24	Condo	V13 (EL 12)
West Dennis	2	$32,603.71	Single Family	V13 (EL 13)
West Dennis	2	$9,158.65	Single Family	V13 (EL 12)
West Dennis	2	$12,917.80	Single Family	A11 (EL 11)
West Dennis	2	$12,980.73	Single Family	V13 (EL 13)
Dennisport	2	$9,716.94	Single Family
Dennisport	4	$108,882.36	Single Family	V8 (EL 15)
TOTALS	39	$425,103.95

Table 15

Policy Statistics of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), Cape Cod, Massachusetts: 1978 (start NFIP) – April 30, 2009
Town	Policies In-Force	Insurance In-Force (whole $)	Written Premium In-Force
Barnstable	1,048	291,038,000	1,159,578
Bourne	1,152	244,073,400	1,714,400
Brewster	94	27,058,100	63,335
Chatham	422	119,267,300	396,752
Dennis	948	218,863,700	999,787
Eastham	155	45,563,100	122,582
Falmouth	2,150	517,057,100	2,900,569
Harwich	561	138,603,500	419,358
Mashpee	536	148,810,200	484,894
Orleans	188	57,247,800	170,202
Provincetown	788	135,983,800	712,681
Sandwich	388	90,522,100	472,623
Truro	223	41,500,300	218,583
Wellfleet	151	38,243,400	138,368
Yarmouth	1,292	286,323,600	1,372,282
Total for Barnstable County	10,096 (@ 20% MA total)	2,400,155,400	11,345,994
Total for MA	50,197	10,722,546,000	51,087,948

Source: Cape Cod Commission

3.7 Estimating Potential Dollar Loss

Flooding and urban fires provide the two areas where the town is most capable of estimating the dollar value of loss in the town. The Dennis Planning Office worked with the Dennis Assessor’s Office to extract the value of all properties within flood prone and fire prone areas in Dennis. We have determined that the current replacement value of structures subject to flooding within the 1% storm event flood zone (as mapped for adoption by FEMA on July 30, 2009) to be about $494 million. These values increase to $1.04 billion for properties potentially at risk of flooding (1% storm event) originally mapped by FEMA (draft maps dated May 12, 2009). While these latter maps have been deferred by FEMA for additional study the land mass identified on these May 12, 2009 maps match Army Corps of Engineers Category 2 Hurricane SLOSH zone impacts. These areas also match much anecdotal evidence of the reach of significant hurricane events impacting Dennis in 1938 and 1954.

The last major urban fire to occur in Dennis was in 1920. In that year an entire urban block in Dennisport was destroyed. Land development patterns in Dennisport and West Dennis continue to illustrate areas which could be subject to such fires. In particular, in Dennisport the same area that burned in 1920 continues to be developed in a densely settled pattern of shared walls and zero setbacks as when the fire occurred. Since 1920, areas of Dennisport nearer the water have also developed in densely settled neighborhoods of cottages along Old Wharf Road. These areas also illustrate possible urban wildfire threats. Finally, in West Dennis, a small section of the village, dating back over 100 years, is similarly densely settled. Structural replacement values in these areas are:

Dennisport Village Center $3.1 million

Dennisport Cottage Colony Area $23.9 million

West Dennis Village Center $1.5 million

3.8 Vulnerability – Development Trends and Future Structures in Hazard Zones

Dennis is a community that is very near build-out. Southerly coastal areas developed in the early to mid 1900’s. Northerly coastal areas developed much more recently. Due to these development trends, there are far more properties “at-risk” in southern areas of town than elsewhere. These properties are, actually, “at-risk” for many of the identified hazards. Flood prone areas are as likely, if not more likely, to experience other severe weather issues as they are flooding. These low lying coastal areas are exposed to wind, driving rain and snow. Snow and ice build-up on older infrastructure is also an issue.

Dennis sees the need to promote re-investment in many of these areas, essentially to promote transition to upgraded structures meeting modern construction, wetland, fire safety, and erosion control requirements. The following paragraphs provide some detail on how Dennis is preparing to protect both existing and future structures from hazards:

Flooding: The town has undertaken significant efforts in the past two decades to ensure the protection of its open areas as well as its developed neighborhoods. The open land preservation efforts have included acquiring flood prone properties and placing them into conservation protection. Thereby protecting future generations both from ill-advised development in flood zones as well as by protecting areas capable of providing for flood storage. In addition, the town has adopted flood plain controls under its local Zoning, Health and Wetlands Regulations. This multi-prong approach has put into place measures to ensure that structures are constructed or reconstructed in a flood safe manner.

Erosion: The town has also adopted coastal bank setback requirements in both the Zoning By-law and Wetlands Regulations. These setback requirements provide some measure of protection for structures against the hazards of coastal erosion. By requiring that new structures be set back at least 50 feet from the top of a coastal bank, the town has provided significant protections against damage from coastal erosion. The town has also created a committee to study the cause and effects of erosion of the three Coastal Banks in Dennis. This Committee is charged with developing a long range plan for protecting these critical town natural features.

Wind: Both public and private entities work to protect Dennis residents from wind damage. The Dennis DPW reviews the conditions of trees on an on-going basis. As it identifies public trees that are sick or dying, or that pose a public risk, the DPW removes these trees. These efforts provide opportunities to maintain public access during storm events by trying to ensure obstacles are removed prior to them becoming a hazard. The areas public utility (NSTAR) provides a similar plan to remove trees that could threaten the town’s power grid. NSTAR’s tree trimming program in designed to review and remove trees and branches that could come into contact with power lines during a storm.

Severe Weather: The Town of Dennis Building Department strictly enforces Massachusetts Building Code requirements as they apply to reconstruction and rehabilitation of existing structures and new construction. These standards include provisions for wind protection as well as from flooding and other severe weather conditions. The Town also works with other Cape Cod communities on emergency planning and for the provision of shelters when needed for the protection of the town’s citizenry.

Wildland Fires: The Dennis Fire Department and Natural Resources Department have teamed with the Barnstable County Cooperative Extension Office to develop wild fire maintenance standards for several large tracts of land in Dennis. These plans identify efforts to reduce or remove underbrush and other materials that could feed a wildfire. In addition, in Crowe’s Pasture, the town has worked with county and state agencies to restore a natural pasture, and to maintain that pasture areas through controlled burns.

Urban Fires: The Town of Dennis, through its Building and Fire Departments provide code inspection services for all “public” places in Dennis. These inspections look for fire hazards and identify safety hazards building owners need to address as part of annual licensing requirements.

Table 8 illustrates many of the measures currently in place in Dennis to protect and guide land development. As part of the development of the hazard mitigation plan a matrix assessing existing plans, programs and policies that Dennis has in place that incorporate hazard mitigation or other protective measures has been included below.

Table 16: Existing Protection Matrix

Existing Protection	Description	Area Covered	Enforcement and/or Effectiveness
Flood Plain Zoning – Section 6 Floodplain District	Floodplain Compliance Regulations	As designated by the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for the Town of Dennis, Community # 250005 (Zones A’s & V’s)	Building Commissioner
Local Wetlands Protection Bylaw	Regulates development within wetland resource areas including Special Flood Hazard Areas	Wetland Resource Areas	Conservation Commission
Beach Maintenance Program	Raking and cleaning beaches of debris	Town Beaches	Department of Public WorksBeach and Recreation Dept.
Comprehensive Management Emergency Plan	Provides a framework wherein the community can plan and perform respective emergency functions during a disaster or emergency situation on the local, state or national level.	Town wide	Local Emergency Planning Committee
Storm Water By-law	Provides for proper storm water system design to control volume and rate of storm water run-off	Town wide	Building Commissioner with review by Engineering Department (Adopted October 2009)
Subdivision Regulations	Requires utilities to be placed underground, drainage designed in accordance with town Storm Water By-law	Residential and Commercial Districts	Planning Board
Site Plan Review	Review of development projects for storm water control in accordance with Storm Water by-law	Commercial Districts	Planning Board
Wildfire Assessment & Preparedness Program	County grant program to reduce wildfires	Shoop Community Gardens, Princess Beach/Scargo Hill, The Plashes, Water District Greenbelt Area	Barnstable County Cooperative Extension Service,  Fire Department Dept of Natural Resources & Conservation Commission
Dock Regulations		100 Year Floodplain Areas as designated by FIRM	Conservation Commission
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)	Federally backed flood insurance available to homeowners, renters & businesses	100 Year Floodplain Areas as designated by FIRM	FEMA / Building Commissioner
Building Permits	Building Code Enforcement		Building Commissioner
Barrier Beaches Management	Management Plan for the protection and nurturing of the three Barrier Beaches in Dennis.	Chapin Beach, West Dennis Beach, Crowe’s Pasture	Barrier Beach Committee (est. Aug. 4, 2009)
Land Acquisition	Acquisition of critical land areas for resource management.	Town-Wide	Community Preservation Committee, Dennis Conservation Trust
Quivet Neck/Crowe’s Pasture Resource Protection District	Special Zoning to protect the Quivet Neck/Crowe’s Pasture Resource Protection Area from inappropriate development.	Quivet Neck and Crowe’s Pasture in north east Dennis	Planning Board, Building Commissioner
Environmentally Sensitive Area Waste Water Requirements	Ensures proper design of septic systems located in areas designated as environmentally sensitive (high water table, proximity to wetlands, flood zones)	Areas with high water tables, proximate to wetlands, or located within flood zones	Board of Health, Conservation Commission

Next: Draft Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan Section 4 Action Plan

December 13, 2009