San Anselmo Approves Disaster Plan

The town of San Anselmo approved its Hazard Mitigation Plan on Tuesday night -- a plan that outlines the steps the town will take proactively to mitigate potential disasters.

The plan is a necessary step to insure reimbursements come from FEMA and the state government after a disaster.

Police Chief Charles Maynard explained to the council Tuesday night that in 2000 the government started requiring local jurisdictions to have a plan in place before natural disasters struck, instead of just waiting until after. San Anselmo approved its first hazard mitigation plan in 2005, as part of a multi-jurisdictional plan with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), just six months before .

"The plan allowed the town to reap substantial benefits from FEMA and the state in terms of reimbursements," said Maynard. When the flood hit, the police station had not yet been flood-proofed, but, because it was on the plan as a building that was going to be flood-proofed, the town was able to get money to repair the damage.

The full plan can be viewed above.

"The Town of San Anselmo ranks flooding as the most important hazard to the Town followed by wildfire and earthquake," reads the hazard mitigation plan.

The plan is an ABAG effort of all towns in the Bay Area and outlines the most likely hazards: faulting, shaking, earthquake-induced landslides, liquefaction, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, wildfires, and drought.

San Anselmo then also prepared an annex to the plan that identifies how the Bay Area plan applies specifically to them. Namely, that flooding and wildfires are our biggest concerns.

It also lists schools and local critical facilities at risk. In San Anselmo, there are four schools noted as being in liquefaction risk zones and wildland-urban interface fire zones. All six of the critical local facilities listed are also in those fire zones, while two are at risk of flooding.

You can also see ABAG's full mitigation plan on their website and use their interactive flood zone map.