Zoning and Building Safety Department
Planning
Links of Interest
CENSUS DATA 
HAZARD MITIGATION PLANNING
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) discusses Hazard Mitigation Planning and the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. The planning “How-to” guides are available here.
ILLINOIS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (IEMA)
This link takes you to IEMA Planning homepage, which has many useful links including FAQ’s, Links, Maps, Resources, and a link to the 2004 Illinois Natural Mitigation Plan. The plan is a very large document (47.01 MB) and even with a high-speed connection will take quite some time to download.
WEATHER
MIDWEST CLIMATE INFORMATION
Midwestern Regional Climate Center website for Midwest climate information available by state and station for temperature, precipitation, snow and growing season.
TORNADO
TORNADO INFORMATION
Tornado links for the latest tornado news and other websites about tornadoes.
EARTHQUAKE
EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION
U.S. Geological Survey website showing the earthquake hazards program, specifically, earthquake ground motions that have a specified probability of being exceeded in 50 years.
EARTHQUAKE SAFETY GUIDE
Use this resource to educate yourself on what to do in the event of an earthquake, how to be better prepared to care for yourself and your family in the aftermath of a quake, and even to find out more about how earthquakes work.
MAPPING
CropScape - Cropeland Data Layer (USDA, NASS)
EarthExplorer (USGS)
The National Map
VegScape - Vegetation Condition Explorer
Web Soil Survey
DISASTER RESISTANT CONSTRUCTION
PROPERTY PROTECTION
Institute for Business and Home Safety explains property protection by hazards and related programs and resources.
ALL-CONCRETE HOME
Concrete homes are disaster resistant and energy efficient. Portland Cement Association has a showcase all-concrete home, books and videos on building beautiful homes with concrete are also available.
DISASTER PROOFING YOUR HOME
Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH, Inc.) has information on disaster proofing your home and a homeowners’ information center.
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GENERAL DISASTER INFORMATION
HOW SOCIETY RESPONDS TO NATURAL HAZARDS
Natural Hazards Center has research and information about how society prepares for, responds to, recovers from and mitigates damage and other losses from natural hazards and catastrophic events.
DISASTER RELATED INFORMATION
Disaster Center Illinois page has a variety of disaster related information: weather, National Flood Insurance Program, family disaster plan, animals in disaster, etc.
FEMA RISK MAP SUCCESS STORIES
This page captures success stories in the Risk MAP program and how it has helped reduce flood risk among communities nationwide.
MISC LINKS
NATIONAL OCEANIC & ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA)
NOAA's Climate Program Office incorporates the Office of Global Programs, the Arctic Research Office, the Climate Observations and Services Program, and coordinates climate activities across NOAA. The CPO focuses on developing a broader user community for climate products and services, provides a focal point for climate activities within NOAA, leads NOAA climate education and outreach activities, and coordinates international climate activities.
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (USGS)
The Geologic Hazards Team, located in Golden, Colorado, on the Colorado School of Mines campus, works in the following three areas: Earthquakes, Landslides and Geomagnetism. This website has a lot of information along with projects and images.
FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY(FEMA)
FEMA's continuing mission is to lead the effort to prepare the nation for all hazards and effectively manage federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates proactive mitigation activities, trains first responders, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program.
RED CROSS
Each year, the American Red Cross responds immediately to more than 70,000 disasters, including house or apartment fires (the majority of disaster responses), hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hazardous materials spills, transportation accidents, explosions, and other natural and man-made disasters.
US ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS
The mission of the Corps of Engineers Regulatory Program is to protect the Nation’s aquatic resources, while allowing reasonable development through fair, flexible and balanced permit decisions. The Corps evaluates permit applications for essentially all construction activities that occur in the Nation’s waters, including wetlands. Corps permits are also necessary for any work, including construction and dredging, in the Nation’s navigable waters.
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