FEMA requires every locality to maintain a hazard mitigation plan that examines the risk and impact of natural disasters and provides strategies for reducing impacts to people and property. Every five years this plan must be updated to ensure continued access to FEMA’s grant funds for mitigation projects.
The plan will identify potential hazards and rate their relative impact on the region, evaluate risks to human life and property, and develop goals for reducing these risks – which will be supported by mitigation strategies and projects in every participating locality and at the regional level.
The steering committee is composed of representatives from participating localities as well as regional, state, and federal agencies who have expertise to offer in hazard mitigation. Working groups for each of the hazards met during this process to more fully evaluate the data and develop the plan details. These natural hazards were ranked in 2017 for impact in the New River Valley.
Over the next year, the plan will be developed with data collection, regional collaboration among participating localities, hazard identification and risk assessment, public involvement and information sharing, mitigation strategy creation, and finally a draft that will be reviewed and submitted to the funding agencies for approval.
The plan has been approved by FEMA and adopted by participating localities.The plan is valid for five years as of November 27, 2017. Links to the plan are posted below. Comments for this update are closed, but we welcome your input which would be addressed in the next update to the plan. You can submit those here.
The map below provides interactive viewing of hazard data as it becomes available.
To ensure a successful planning process, a steering committee composed of participating local governments along with local, state and federal agencies will provide oversight of working groups designated to provide an update of the risk assessment for each potential hazard, development of mitigation strategies, and review of the updated plan that will be submitted to FEMA.
The steering committee will also participate in working groups for each hazard alongside relevant stakeholders and subject matter experts for each of the area’s known hazards (flooding, severe weather, tornados, drought, snowfall, etc.) to offer input on the risk assessment and potential regional mitigation strategies for these hazards.
The anticipated meetings are listed below. As agendas and follow up information for each meeting becomes available, they will be posted to this page as hyperlinked PDFs.
Comments on the plan and planning process are requested and welcomed. We ask that you provide the county/city where you live or work so we can report the general extent of citizen participation to our funding agencies and stakeholders. If you wish to be contacted directly, be sure to provide your email address.
*required field
This document was prepared under a grant from FEMA's Grants Program Directoriate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of FEMA's Grants Program Directorate or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
