Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

2023 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Development

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines hazard mitigation as, “any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to life and property from natural hazards.”   Another way to understand hazard mitigation is as the prevention component of the emergency management process. (see figure)

• Preparedness activities are the emergency plans, training, drills, and exercises that individuals, communities and first responders participate in on almost a daily basis.  These are things done to get ready for an emergency or disaster before it happens. 
• Response is the short-term, emergency actions taken to address the immediate impacts of a hazard event or disaster. 
• Recovery is the longer-term process of restoring the community back to normal or pre-disaster conditions. 
• Mitigation, or prevention, activities are actions that will prevent or eliminate losses, even if an incident does occur. Mitigation can reduce or eliminate the need for an emergency response and greatly reduce the recovery period.

To address Hazard Mitigation in the City of Placentia, the City is in the process of developing a 2023 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP). 

Flood, earthquake, fire, and severe weather are just a few of the natural hazards of concern to the City of Placentia.  While natural hazards such as these cannot be prevented, an LHMP forms the foundation for a community's long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses by breaking the repeated cycle of disaster damage and reconstruction.   Communities with a FEMA- approved LHMP are eligible for FEMA pre- and post-disaster grant funding and are better positioned to respond and recover when disasters occur.  

The LHMP development process is as important as the plan itself.  It creates a framework for risk-based decision making to reduce damages to lives, property, and the economy from future disasters.

2023 LHMP 

The City of Placentia is kicking off their LHMP with meetings in early March 2023.  The LHMP will address hazards of concern to the City, will assess the likely impacts of these hazards to the people and assets of the City of Placentia planning area, and will also establish hazard mitigation goals and prioritize mitigation actions and projects to reduce the impacts of future disasters on people and property as well as to critical facilities and infrastructure.

Opportunities for Input

Members of the community have a very important role in this process. A draft of the 2023 LHMP will be available on this website in Fall 2023 for review and comment by the public and all interested stakeholders.  

Planning committee and public meetings will also be held as part of the LHMP development process.  In addition to plan participation by the City of Placentia, local, state, and federal agencies, and other key stakeholders, the public is encouraged to attend and participate in our planning and public meetings.  

Information on specific meeting times and locations are detailed below.  Please select the time that works best for you.

Upcoming Meetings 

For more information on this project and how to be involved, contact Patrick Powers at (714) 993-8214/ ppowers@placentia.org