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Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan

This plan focuses on the natural hazards which have historically affected the city and could affect Albany again in the future. It also looks at the potential of hazards of increased magnitude due to climate change.

Plan Documents

Plan Summary

Introduction

How have natural hazards affected Albany?

Natural hazards pose a threat to the city’s economy and its residents’ property and health.  Natural disasters have caused major problems in Albany’s recent history.  Windstorms, heavy rainstorms, wildfires in other communities and ice storms have posed threats within the last 10 years. Albany’s location near a major earthquake subduction zone and faults places it in danger of significant earthquake damage. Flooding is a primary concern to the city due to its location in the Willamette River valley. Planning for natural hazards is vital due to the potential devastating effects on property and the local economy.

Albany has been or could be greatly affected by several natural hazards including windstorms, winter storms, flooding, and earthquakes. Luckily, landslides and wildfires are limited within the city limits due to a lack of urban interface area and minimal development on slopes but are still a concern. The following is a brief outline of the history of natural disaster events that have recently impacted the city.

Winter Storm:  The most recent winter storm events (during the past five years reviewed for this plan update) include an ice storm in 2023 lasting from February 11 to February 15.

Windstorm: A wind event in 2020 was a declared disaster (Presidential Declaration DR-4562).  In 2015, between December 6-23, high winds resulted in widespread tree damage and power outages in the South Willamette Valley.  This event was Presidential Declaration DR-4258, a severe storm event including high winds, flooding, landslides, and mudslides in other parts of the state.

Flood:  Due to Albany’s location along the Calapooia and Willamette Rivers, the city has had many floods going back to the founding of the city. April 6-21, 2019, saw a particularly strong atmospheric river occur, producing anywhere up to 5 inches of rain over a 48-hour period. This heavy rain combined with snow melt from snow received a few weeks prior, caused flooding along many rivers in Western Oregon.  The Willamette River near Harrisburg crested at 15.3 feet around 9 AM on April 9th, which is 1.3 feet above flood stage.   Albany received assistance as a part of Presidential Declaration DR-4452 for Severe Storm and Flooding damages.

Earthquake:  Minor earthquakes have occurred in Albany. On August 18, 1961, a 4.5 magnitude earthquake caused minor damage and several earthquakes outside Albany have produced tremors felt in the city. In 1993, the Scotts Mills earthquake was magnitude 5.7 on the Richter scale.  Locally, there are nearby faults that could cause much more damage to the city.

Public Health Emergency: The COVID-19 Pandemic (DR-4499) occurred January 20, 2020 and was the first pandemic declared a natural disaster in Oregon.

nhmp circlesWhich hazards should we be most concerned about?

Risk assessment is a process of collecting information and assigning values to risks for the purpose of informing priorities, developing, or comparing courses of action, and informing decision making.  In other words, which natural hazards should we focus on when developing a course of action for the city?

Conducting a risk assessment can provide information on the location of hazards, the value of existing land and property in hazard locations, and an analysis of risk to life, property, and the environment that may result from natural hazard events. 

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