Hazard Mitigation Planning

A mitigation plan demonstrates the community's commitment to reducing the risks from natural hazards, and should serve as a guide for all levels of community decision makers. The plan should detail how the community will address planning for natural hazards and the resources they are going to commit to the process. The planning process is the heart of both the original mitigation plan and updates to that plan.

Communities may experience fluctuations in staffing and in-house knowledge of the hazard mitigation planning process. The description of the planning process will be especially valuable to new staff and successive leaders as it provides a clear and coherent picture of the steps taken to update the plan. Also, during intense decision-making situations, such as the period following a catastrophic event, an understanding of the planning process and the rationale used to develop the risk assessment and mitigation strategy will be of assistance as mitigation priorities are reassessed and revised.

Design plans, including hazard mitigation, flood mitigation, vulnerability assessments, and emergency response are living, evolving strategies. All Solutient planning documents include the requirements for twice yearly training exercises and annual reviews. Solutient has supported the data and mapping requirements for two consulting members of the Solutient team, Jeff Ward and French Wetmore, in their plans and grant applications in Texas, Illinois and the City of Gretna, respectively.