Community Officials & Planners
Tools and guides for community resilience and planning
Planning for whole-community resilience
Local governments, tribes, utilities, and community organizations share responsibility for reducing risk before disasters. This page highlights how plans, partnerships, and funding fit together, without replacing your jurisdiction's official procedures.
Mitigation plans, grants, and day-to-day operations work best when agencies and partners share a common picture of hazards, capabilities, and priorities.
Hazard mitigation planning
A hazard mitigation plan identifies risks and prioritizes projects that reduce long-term losses. It is a foundation for many federal grants and helps align capital projects with measurable risk reduction.
Typical plan ingredients
- Documented hazards and vulnerable assets
- Prioritized mitigation actions with rough costs
- Coordination with local land use and capital planning
- Public participation and adoption on a schedule your state recognizes
Whole community and partnerships
Resilience work is stronger when emergency management, public works, schools, hospitals, nonprofits, and businesses coordinate scenarios, exercises, and communications. Use the same hazard language in outreach materials so residents hear a consistent message.
Partnership habits that help
- Joint tabletop exercises that include lifelines (water, power, communications)
- Shared after-action notes from drills and real events
- Aligned public messaging during preparedness season
Flooding and the Community Rating System
For flood-prone communities, the NFIP Community Rating System (CRS) rewards public information, mapping, and mitigation activities that go beyond minimum requirements. Even if you are not a CRS coordinator, knowing the basics helps align local messaging with insurance incentives.
Threat and hazard identification
THIRA and related processes help regions identify capability gaps and justify investments. Connect those findings to your mitigation plan and capital improvement program so projects stay tied to documented risk.
Related themes on this site
- Drinking Water Security for utilities and elected officials.
- Dam Safety & Management for owners and emergency managers.
- Wildfire Mitigation for land use and public outreach.
Key resources
Community Resilience Planning Guide
Framework for developing community-wide resilience strategies
Local Hazard Mitigation Planning
Guide for developing and implementing hazard mitigation plans