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Abstract:
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In the summer of 2008 , two hurricanes made landfall along the Texas coast causing
billions of dollars in damage . Texas received presidential disaster declarations , which
resulted in the state receiving over $350 million in hazard mitigation funds . Over 500
requests for mitigation projects were submitted to the government from communities
impacted . Not all requested projects could be funded . As a result , those communities that
submitted requests for well -defined mitigation projects were the primary beneficiaries of
the federal mitigation funds . To better understand the factors that characterize a “welldefined”
mitigation project , this study developed an index to rate the completeness and
quality of mitigation project definitions . The study incorporated concepts from research
on quality community planning and from project definition rating methods . The rating
tool consists of detailed descriptions of the project scope elements along with a scoring
method for the completeness and quality of the project’s definition . The rating tool and
the detailed descriptions help to develop a “well -defined” mitigation project definition as
well as to evaluate it . |