Dynamic Planning + Science supported the City of Cloverdale in developing its 2021 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) to identify, assess, and reduce the community’s vulnerability to natural and other hazards. The plan provides a comprehensive framework for understanding hazard exposure, evaluating risks to people, property, infrastructure, and vulnerable populations, and developing targeted mitigation actions that can be implemented over time.
The planning process followed FEMA’s four-step hazard mitigation planning framework and incorporated community and stakeholder input, GIS-based risk assessment and mapping, hazard prioritization, climate change considerations, and an assessment of the City’s existing planning, regulatory, administrative, technical, financial, and outreach capabilities. The plan evaluates priority hazards including drought, earthquake, flooding, geological hazards, epidemic/pandemic/vector-borne disease, and wildfire.
The LHMP translates these findings into a mitigation strategy with prioritized actions spanning prevention, property protection, public education, natural resource protection, emergency services, and structural projects. The plan also establishes an implementation and maintenance framework to track progress, update mitigation actions, maintain FEMA grant eligibility, and incorporate hazard mitigation into future planning and development decisions.
- Evaluated Cloverdale’s vulnerability to drought, earthquakes, flooding, geological hazards, epidemic/pandemic/vector-borne disease, and wildfire.
- Used spatial data and web-based mapping to identify hazard exposure and assess impacts to population, property, critical infrastructure, and vulnerable facilities.
- Applied FEMA’s Hazus methodology to estimate potential losses from earthquake and flooding scenarios.
- Assessed how changing climate conditions could influence hazard vulnerability and mitigation needs.
- Conducted a community survey and stakeholder outreach to identify residents’ concerns, hazard awareness, preparedness priorities, and preferred mitigation actions.
- Structured the plan to support continued eligibility for FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance and provide a foundation for future mitigation funding applications.
