Hazard mitigation is any action taken to permanently reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and their property from the effects of hazards. The Hazard Mitigation Plan forms the foundation for Ocean City’s long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage.

 

DOWNLOAD THE 2023 HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN

 

The Department of Emergency Services has secured federal grant funds to identify projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of hazard induced damages to buildings and infrastructure. The identifications of various types of hazard mitigation and resilience strategies is part of the FEMA funding project eligibility criteria. Projects must be identified using robust stakeholder engagement process. Finally, all projects seeking FEMA grant funding should be identified within the Town of Ocean City’s approved and adopted Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The Hazard Mitigation Plan forms the foundation for the Town of Ocean City’s long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. The purpose of this plan is to identify, plan, and implement cost-effective hazard mitigation measures through a comprehensive approach known as hazard mitigation planning. The 2023 plan is an update to the 2017 Hazard Mitigation Plan.

Input from residents, community members, workers, business owners, and visitors will help ensure the success of the Town’s hazard mitigation plan and projects. There are a variety of ways community members and stakeholders can participate:

    • Public Survey: Take a survey to provide feedback on concerns regarding local hazards and disaster risk. The survey consists of seventeen questions and takes under ten minutes to complete. Survey is located on https://oceancitymd.gov/oc/departments/emergency-services/
    • Follow Us: Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TownOfOceanCity for hazard mitigation updates and other emergency preparedness, response, and recovery information.
    • Spread the Word: Tell your family, friends, and neighbors about the plan and how they can help!
    • Reach Out: For questions regarding the plan, contact Bob Rhode, Department of Emergency Services at [email protected].

Action items are the answer to the “so what?” question in hazard mitigation. The purpose of hazard mitigation action items is to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from hazards and their effects. They provide local governments clear steps to achieve their mitigation goals.

As part of the 2023 Plan Update, existing action items were reviewed by stakeholders to determine their status within the last 5-year planning cycle. The full results of that review are contained in the Mitigation Action Items Status Report. You can view this document by selecting the following link: Mitigation Status Report

New Mitigation Goals were developed for the Plan Update. You can review the new goals by selecting the following link: New Mitigation Goals

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