Preventing repetitive losses: HSEM program breaks the cycle
July 31, 2023
If you've visited Duluth this summer, chances are you stopped by the Canal Park area, where the Lakewalk provides a stunning view of Lake Superior. Just a few short years ago, the park and the Lakewalk were covered in debris, torn apart by a series of storms.
The October 2017 storm hit the Duluth Lakewalk like a hammer, battering the trail and washing its foundation into Lake Superior.
Months later, in April 2018, a second storm hit the same coastline. Then again, in October 2018, a third storm slammed the Lakewalk, ripping up pavement and destroying the path. Our Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) division was there each time to help Duluth pick up the pieces.
“They didn't even get the chance to fix damages from one storm before the next one happened," HSEM engineering specialist Wayne Lamoreaux said.
HSEM worked with local authorities and the federal government to fund a project aimed at mitigating future disasters at the Lakewalk. The partnership brings together all levels of government to reduce the risk of a disaster destroying the natural resources that support the tourism industry in Duluth.
HSEM initially surveyed the damage after each storm, leading the governor to declare a disaster after the first two storms and the president to declare a disaster after the third. Our staff determined the three storms caused more than $10 million in damages to the Lakewalk, a key piece of infrastructure in the city of Duluth. City engineers, contractors and our HSEM staff all agreed: It would happen again if they didn't do something different.
Duluth took the lead in developing a plan to protect its natural resources. Local authorities determined that they needed to build a more resilient Lakewalk, relocating a portion of the trail and adding more rocks and green space to protect it.
“This project is the perfect example of what the mitigation program aims to do — prevent repetitive loss," HSEM Director Kristi Rollwagen said. “Duluth is no longer operating in a cycle of damage and rebuild. This time they built back better thanks to the hazard mitigation program."
In this case, those resources are state and federal funding, administered by HSEM and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Because of the disaster declarations, Duluth was eligible for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and Public Assistance Program, which reimburses cities for the cost of infrastructure projects aimed at protecting Minnesota's resources from natural hazards. The state of Minnesota splits the cost of the projects with FEMA and the city, covering 75 percent of the costs of state disaster recovery projects and 25 percent of federal disaster recovery projects.
Learn more about our hazard mitigation programs here.