Laserfiche WebLink
<br />RISK AND VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT <br />Ramsey County Multijurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan | July 2012 4-41 <br />Multijurisdictional Concerns <br />Areas located below around the aforementioned levees are susceptible to flooding and therefore should be <br />included in any prospective mitigation projects. The probability of levee failure occurring in the future is <br />relatively low based on previous data. <br />Hazard Summary <br /> Ramsey County has experienced no dam failure over the last 75+ years. <br />4.4.2 Terrorism <br />Hazard Identification <br />Ramsey County is a densely populated county, home to the state capital and many federal buildings, thus <br />making it an attractive terrorist target. Additional analyses to further characterize the risks of this hazard <br />and the development of suitable mitigation action items will be conducted in the future based on periodic <br />reviews of this hazard mitigation plan and available resources <br />Hazard Profile <br />Terrorism is defined in the Code of Federal Regulations as "The unlawful use of force and violence <br />against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment <br />thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives." Over the past few years, the definition of <br />terrorism has also been expanded to encompass cyberterrorism and agricultural terrorism. <br />Vulnerability Assessment <br />Terrorist incidents in this country prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks have included bombings of the <br />World Trade Center (1993) in New York City, the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., <br />and Mobil Oil corporate headquarters in New York City. There was also the 1995 bombing of the Murrah <br />Federal Building in Oklahoma City. In the United States, most terrorist incidents have involved small <br />extremist groups using terrorism to further a designated objective or obtain publicity for a cause. <br />Bombings have been the most frequent method of attack in the United States. Other possibilities include <br />attacks against transportation facilities, utilities, or other public services, or an incident involving <br />chemical or biological materials. <br />The primary objectives of most terrorist groups include the following: <br /> Gain publicity. <br /> Stimulate loss of confidence in the government. <br /> Attract recruits. <br /> Get public support. <br /> Gain financial support, and ultimately weaken and overthrow the government. <br />Techniques used to gain an audience for their platform include hostage-taking, product-tampering, <br />criminal extortion, arson, sabotage, threats against individual family members, assassinations, <br />kidnapping, explosive bombings, and armed attacks. The most likely targets of these forms of terrorism <br />are political leaders, key military personnel, foreign missions, military facilities, corporate executives and <br />facilities, and celebrities. Unfortunately, the risk of terrorist acts exists in the state of Minnesota and <br />cannot be ruled out for Ramsey County. Terrorist attacks can take a wide variety of forms, ranging from a <br />verbal threat to sabotage to biological weapons to a bomb.