Pennsylvania Disaster Planning for Historic Properties Initiative

In 2014, Pennsylvania was awarded $1.5 million from the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act to help stabilize or repair historic properties damaged by Hurricane Sandy, and undertake disaster-related planning initiatives. The funding enabled the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office to assist select counties and the City of Philadelphia with prioritizing their communities’ historic properties and build protective measures into hazard mitigation plans for historic property considerations. Philadelphia became the first major city in the U.S. to adopt a disaster plan to protect historic buildings due to this initiative to proactively prepare for the impacts of climate change.

The disaster preparedness planning process for historic properties occurred in two phases:

  • Identifying the most vulnerable historic properties through a survey and the analysis of resources within the state’s historic resource inventory; and
  • Developing strategies to protect these local historic assets before, during and after future disasters, and integrating those strategies into FEMA-approved Hazard Mitigation Plans.

The project began with enhanced surveys in four pilot counties: Bedford, Cameron, Monroe, and the City of Philadelphia. The pilot counties were chosen for being geographically, demographically, and architecturally diverse counties from across Pennsylvania. The Phase 1 survey efforts incorporated historic preservation considerations into the Pennsylvania State Hazard Mitigation Plan as well as the four individual County Hazard Mitigation Plans. The final reports produced for each pilot project are meant to serve as a prototype that other counties can reference for hazard mitigation planning.

 

Publication Date: 2014-2018

Related Organizations:

  • Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Office

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  • Best practice
  • Case study

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