”We can’t control forces of nature. But we can control what comes afterward. We have a chance to start fresh.”
Governor Hunt, North Carolina
Hazard mitigation planning forms the foundation for a community’s long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction and repeated damage. It creates a framework for risk-based decision making to reduce loss of lives, property, and the economy from future disasters. State and local governments are required to develop and maintain a hazard mitigation plan as a condition of receiving certain types of hazard mitigation disaster assistance, both emergency and non-emergency funding. Additional benefits of developing hazard mitigation plans include; developing an understanding of previous and potential local hazards and consequences, maintaining eligibility for pre- and post-disaster grant funding, enhancing inter-agency coordination, increasing public awareness and education of hazard risks and mitigation measures and developing local priorities for hazard mitigation.