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'. -- -- -- FACTS BEARING ON THE PROBLEM To assess Coloradan's vulnerabilities to very high risk threats, and to better understand how to reduce these vulnerabilities it is necessary to consider: 1. The occurrence of natural phenomena which are major hazards in the State. 2. population patterns and growth in areas of the State where these extreme events occur, 3. Steps toward local preparedness and mitigation of these threats taken by concerned elements of the population, including awareness of the threat, awareness of warning signals, availability of shelters and marked evacuation routes, planned responses, and incentives to encourage people to settle away from danger areas. Relationships between item (1) hazards, and item (2) popula- tion involved, identify patterns of risk. Relationships between patterns of risk, and item (3) steps taken toward preparedness, explain degrees of vulnerability to which various Coloradans are exposed; these steps offer insights as to the most cost effective measures which can be taken to reduce vulnerabilities. Such relationships are not new to Colorado, The natural phenomena involved have occurred here long before people settled near them and were impacted by them. Risk grew from the increasingly close association between natural phenomena and a growing population; as disasters in in- creasing magnitude and frequency occurred. The need for preparedness, involving perception and response, arose out of the impact of these disasters. As vulnerability to natural hazards has grown, so has the need for preparedness -- to reduce the cost of Colorado's potential disasters. EXTREME EVENTS WHICH ARE MAJOR HAZARDS IN COLORADO As previously established in the Division of Disaster Emergency Services (DODES) publication, Colorado's Vulner- ability to Hazards, flash floods, floods on the plains (or 3