2020 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

City of Irvine

2020 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

be both active and passive. For example, a broken power line is directly dangerous (it creates a threat of electrocution, and the wires may spark a wildfire) and creates an indirect risk (the loss of electricity service can be harmful during hot weather). Infrastructure failures often occur as an effect of a natural hazard, such as floods or high winds. Failures can also occur as a result of human error, deliberate action, or because the infrastructure was not properly maintained and failed as a result of overuse or wear and tear. Some infrastructure failures can directly cause other hazard situations. Utility lines (power lines, water, and wastewater pipes, natural gas lines, etc.), flood control and drainage infrastructure, erosion control measures, and other forms of infrastructure can all create hazardous situations in the event of a failure.

Location and Extent

Transportation Accidents Arterial streets like Harvard Ave, University Dr, Jamboree Rd, Culver Rd, Jeffrey Rd, Sand Canyon Ave, Main St, Alton Pkwy, Irvine Center Dr, Trabuco Rd, Irvine Blvd, and Portola Pkwy accommodate a large amount of traffic circulation through the City. These roadways, in addition to the major interstates/ state routes, accommodate local and regional transportation needs throughout Irvine and Orange County. Any one of these major transportation corridors could be the site of transportation accidents that could affect the community and the surrounding areas. Generally, the scale used to measure transportation accidents is the amount of damage to the vehicle and level of injury and/or death caused to people. Mass Casualty Incidents/Terrorism Mass Casualty Incidents can occur anywhere, although public spaces and locations where a lot of people congregate (parks, schools, places of worship, government facilities, shopping centers, and areas of public gathering) are most common. Key locations in Irvine may be large shopping centers (i.e., Irvine Spectrum), governmental facilities (i.e., City Hall), universities (i.e., UC Irvine), schools, hospitals (i.e., Kaiser/Hoag), parks (i.e., Orange County Great Park), and large employers in the Irvine Business Complex and Irvine Spectrum. Acts of terrorismmay be located at the locations listed above; however, the perpetrators may also choose high-value targets such as electric-generating facilities, water treatment plants, dams or reservoirs, railroads, highways, and other facilities that could impact governmental services. Mass Casualty Incidents and acts of terrorism are typically measured by the fatalities, injuries, and destruction they cause, but there is no universally used scale for measuring these events. Civil Disturbance Civil disturbances can arise at any time and place for a variety of reasons. There are, however, some places where such events are more likely to emerge, including local, state and federal government centers, jails, police stations, major businesses, university campuses, and places of public assembly. Many of the locations listed in the Mass Casualty Incident/Terrorism description above would be locations for these types of incidents as well. No definitive scale for measuring civil disturbance events exits, but several metrics may be used individually to determine a civil disturbance event’s impact. These measures include :

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