Mitigation Planning
Most regional development organizations will be familiar with mitigation planning as a process which embodies many of the elements of resilience planning previously described. The purpose of mitigation planning is to identify policies and actions that can be implemented over the long term to reduce risk and future losses.
Mitigation plans form the foundation for a community's long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. The planning process is as important as the plan itself. It creates a framework for risk-based decision-making to reduce damages to lives, property, and the economy from future disasters (FEMA, 2013).
State, Indian Tribal, and local governments are required to develop a hazard mitigation plan as a condition for receiving certain types of non-emergency disaster assistance, but they also benefit by:
Hazard mitigation and economic development activities—both critical to the long-term prosperity of regions and communities across the country—are often conducted separately. As a result, hazard mitigation plans and economic development strategies can be disconnected, making it difficult to ensure that businesses and regional economies are prepared for natural disasters and able to recover quickly. However, history has shown that a region’s success is inherently linked to its economic resilience—in other words, its ability to anticipate, withstand, and bounce back from any shocks to its businesses and overall economy, whether those stem from natural hazards, climate change, or shifting economic or market conditions. Considering hazard mitigation and economic development planning as interrelated processes is a necessary step toward building economic resilience.
Building Economic Resilience in the Kerr-Tar Region: Recommendations for Linking Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies and Hazard Mitigation Plans summarizes the findings from a technical assistance project conducted by the National Association of Development Organizations Research Foundation and the University of Louisville Center for Hazard Research and Policy Development for the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments in North Carolina. The purpose of the project was to assist the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments, which serves as an U.S. Economic Development Administration-designated Economic Development District, with identifying ways to align its Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and its hazard mitigation plans (HMPs). Click here to listen to a webinar that discusses the findings of this project.
Cited Source:
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2013). Local Mitigation Planning Handbook. Washington DC: FEMA.
Most regional development organizations will be familiar with mitigation planning as a process which embodies many of the elements of resilience planning previously described. The purpose of mitigation planning is to identify policies and actions that can be implemented over the long term to reduce risk and future losses.
Mitigation plans form the foundation for a community's long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. The planning process is as important as the plan itself. It creates a framework for risk-based decision-making to reduce damages to lives, property, and the economy from future disasters (FEMA, 2013).
State, Indian Tribal, and local governments are required to develop a hazard mitigation plan as a condition for receiving certain types of non-emergency disaster assistance, but they also benefit by:
- Identifying cost effective actions for risk reduction that are agreed upon by stakeholders and the public
- Focusing resources on the greatest risks and vulnerabilities
- Building partnerships by involving people, organizations, and businesses
- Increasing education and awareness of hazards and risk
- Communicating priorities to state and federal officials
- Aligning risk reduction with other community objectives
Hazard mitigation and economic development activities—both critical to the long-term prosperity of regions and communities across the country—are often conducted separately. As a result, hazard mitigation plans and economic development strategies can be disconnected, making it difficult to ensure that businesses and regional economies are prepared for natural disasters and able to recover quickly. However, history has shown that a region’s success is inherently linked to its economic resilience—in other words, its ability to anticipate, withstand, and bounce back from any shocks to its businesses and overall economy, whether those stem from natural hazards, climate change, or shifting economic or market conditions. Considering hazard mitigation and economic development planning as interrelated processes is a necessary step toward building economic resilience.
Building Economic Resilience in the Kerr-Tar Region: Recommendations for Linking Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies and Hazard Mitigation Plans summarizes the findings from a technical assistance project conducted by the National Association of Development Organizations Research Foundation and the University of Louisville Center for Hazard Research and Policy Development for the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments in North Carolina. The purpose of the project was to assist the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments, which serves as an U.S. Economic Development Administration-designated Economic Development District, with identifying ways to align its Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and its hazard mitigation plans (HMPs). Click here to listen to a webinar that discusses the findings of this project.
Cited Source:
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2013). Local Mitigation Planning Handbook. Washington DC: FEMA.