EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Why A Guidebook?
- The Department of Community Affairs has compiled information from different sources for local governments to use.
- The guidebook encourages statewide consistency in hazard mitigation efforts.
- The guidebook provides flexibility for a local government to tailor a hazard mitigation strategy to its unique local situations.
Purpose of the Guidebook for Developing a
Local Mitigation Strategy This guidebook has been prepared to help communities and counties develop hazard mitigation strategies. Local governments will benefit from preparing a local mitigation strategy in a number of very important ways.
- More Funding: By identifying problems and possible solutions
in advance of a disaster, local governments will be in a better position to obtain
post-disaster funding.
- Faster Recovery: Communities will be able to recover faster
and wiser. Through planning and acting on their local mitigation strategies as well as
coordinating between all levels of government, communities will reduce their vulnerability
to disasters and identify opportunities for post-disaster mitigation.
- Planning Compliance: Communities will meet comprehensive planning and other planning requirements and achieve community goals.
The local mitigation strategy is not a new plan, or planning requirement, but it is a new idea. Local governments, including planners, emergency managers, building officials, public safety directors, public works directors, as well as elected and appointed officials, are encouraged to use this guidebook to develop a comprehensive hazard mitigation strategy. This guidebook not only helps a community prepare a local mitigation strategy by providing an outline, it also provides information about technical assistance for strategy development.
Organization of the Guidebook
The guidebook is divided into two parts, process and product. The process part describes the general activities involved in developing a local mitigation strategy: the participants, how to involve them, and how they should create a strategy. The process part has three sections: Government Coordination, Public Participation, and Evaluation and Enhancement. The second part of the guidebook focuses on the suggested content of a local mitigation strategy and is comprised of three sections that result in work products. Guiding Principles, Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Assessment, and Mitigation Initiatives. Examples of "real world" mitigation resources and initiatives are included in each section of the guidebook.It is recommended that local governments use this guidebook as an index to record where criteria items are addressed in existing plans, ordinances, or policies. Checklists have been included in each section for this purpose. While the local mitigation strategy criteria are based on existing planning requirements, additional items may be included to further direct a community's mitigation choices and allow that community to build back better after a disaster.