Hazard Mitigation

Mitigation is defined as any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from hazards. The purpose of mitigation is two-fold: to protect people and property and to minimize the costs of disaster response and recovery. Mitigation activities include planning and zoning, structural and non-structural retrofitting, and acquisition or relocation of flood prone property.

Mitigation Approaches

Mitigation actions are most often thought of as taking the form of structural or non-structural measures. Implementation of mitigation actions can take either form or a combination thereof. There are primarily four basic approaches to mitigation:

Altering the Hazard

Modifying the hazard to eliminate or reduce the frequency of its occurrence. Triggering avalanches under controlled conditions and cloud seeding to force premature precipitation to reduce a storm's energy are typical examples.

Averting the Hazard

Redirecting the impact away from a vulnerable location by using structural devices or land treatment to shield people and development from harm. Dikes, levees, and dams all represent physical efforts implemented to keep the risk away from the people.

Adapting to the Hazard

Modifying structures and altering design standards of construction. Identified problems area such as high wind, earthquake, land sliding or subsidence, and heavily forested terrain all require special building standards and construction practices in order to reduce vulnerability to damage.

Avoiding the Hazard

Keep people away from the hazard area or limiting development and population in a risk area. Enforcement actions such as zoning regulations, building codes and ordinances are intended to restrict, limit or deny access to specially identified risk areas.