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One of the responsibilities of Risk Management at CAHEC is to review risks associated with a development’s site, both man-made and natural. Many tools have been developed and widely used, and our partners are very familiar with them – Phase I Environmental Site Assessments being one of the most universal. Engineers are engaged to visit sites and to research records for hazards on the site, or that are nearby and could impact the site. Most often these identified hazards are man-made - remnants of other land uses, rather than hazards caused by the natural environment.
FIRM maps (Flood Insurance Rate Maps) are another tool.1 Maps show zones of greater flood risk, often along river corridors. As river corridors change and as flood events occur, the maps are periodically redrawn and made more current. Surveyors can show those zone boundaries on site plans and insurers can underwrite the risks of potential flood events. As developable land has become scarcer, CAHEC has increasingly seen our partners locate housing developments on sites that partially include higher-risk flood zones (though the building footprints have avoided those areas of the site). Floods caused by a failed dam (for example) are considered man-made hazards, but storm flooding is considered a natural hazard.
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