Climate & Hazards Planning
Climate Change Adaptation Planning
Sobis personnel have been assessing and planning for climate change impacts for nearly twenty years. Our experience includes integrating climate projections into hazard models; determining social, environmental, and economic vulnerability to our communities; quantifying impacts through detailed risk assessments; communicating climate risk; identifying, prioritizing, and monitoring climate adaptation strategies; and integrating adaptation actions into existing plans, projects, and programs.
Our climate change planners develop a very specific set up actions to help reduce your climate impacts and exposure. It can be difficult for communities and other entities to take broad climate projections and integrate them into local actions. Our Team will help you to better understand how those projections will exacerbate and create new hazards and what can be done to lessen their impact. The impacts our personnel have studies include:
- Sea-Level Rise
- Hurricane Activity
- Riverine, Coastal, and Stormwater Flooding
- Drought
- Wildfire
- Disease
- Excessive Heat
- Precipitation-induced Landslide
- Pestilence
- Saltwater Intrusion
- Factory Equipment Failure
Project Highlight
For the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, Sobis supported the development of the Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Report completed in 2018. Sobis supported the Report including:
- Modeling future flood conditions,
- Integrating coastal erosion estimates developed by the University of Hawaii into the flood conditions,
- Integrating sea-level rise scenarios into future 1% annual chance flood conditions,
- Integrating sea-level rise scenarios into future nuisance flooding conditions,
- Using Hazus to estimate the impacts of future flooding on existing and future buildings at the building site level, and
- Evaluating the vulnerable populations who may be impacted by sea-level rise.
Risk Assessment Services
Sobis risk assessment specialists have extensive experience quantifying risk using advanced models for local, state, tribal, national, and international clients. We have experience efficiently processing local geospatial and other data so that it may be used in hazard and climate risk assessments providing a more detailed assessment to the planners which results in better hazard mitigation and climate adaptation actions. Our Team has experience assessing risk for the following hazards:
- Dam Failure
- Drought
- Earthquake
- Extreme Temperatures
- Flood
- Hazardous Material Incidents
- Human-Caused Event
- Hurricane (Wind and Surge)
- Land Subsidence
- Landslide
- Pandemic
- Severe Storm
- Tornado
- Tsunami
- Wildfire
Our experience includes using FEMA’s Hazus software for risk assessment support. Our Hazus experts have used the software since 2002 and are FEMA headquarters technical consultants. We are certified to teach all of the FEMA Hazus courses and were the lead developers for the Advanced Hazus course taught at the Emergency Management Institute. We’ve developed several tools that work with Hazus to support risk assessments and mitigation planning.
Project Highlight
Sobis supported the Inter-American Develop Bank’s Environmental Safeguards Unit with guiding the Bank’s development financing and to assisting its borrowers in reducing their risks from natural hazards and climate change impacts. These projects involve completing risk assessments for proposed projects and making mitigation recommendations. Sobis also supported the IDB with developing a process and standards which the Bank uses internally to ensure their project investments are sustainable.
Hazard Mitigation & Resilience Planning
Sobis personnel have experience supporting mitigation and resilience plans in fifteen U.S. States and Territories. Our experience includes developing plan goals and objectives; assessing capabilities, hazards, vulnerabilities, and risks; identifying hazard mitigation and resilience actions; monitoring progress and evaluating past efforts; conducting community outreach; and facilitating stakeholder and public meetings.
Other disaster management planning services which Sobis can provide include: Continuity of Operations Plans, Continuity of Government Plans, Emergency Operations Plans, Flood Mitigation Plans, Floodplain Management, Benefit Cost Analysis, Post-Disaster Reports, Plan Exercising, and Plan Integration.
Project Highlight
Sobis worked with the Central Virginia Planning District Commission in developing their Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) in 2020. This support included reviewing and finalizing the HMP, conducting a capabilities assessment, mitigation strategy development, adoption and maintenance, and public meeting facilitation; and drafting the document for State and FEMA Region III review.
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We Offer A Variety Of Solutions, Regardless Of How Big Or Small Your Next Project Will Be.