COIC

Deschutes Co. Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan -Update

Background

COIC is working in collaboration with Deschutes County, local emergency service agencies, state and federal agencies, and others to complete the five-year review and rewrite of Deschutes County’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (NHMP) in 2020-2021. Each five-year update to Deschutes County’s NHMP must be approved by FEMA so that the County is eligible for federal funds to carry out mitigation planning and projects. An NHMP identifies hazards, vulnerabilities, and risks facing a local, state, or tribal government, and prioritizes actions to reduce the risks. A NHMP has two core parts: a risk assessment and a mitigation strategy. The Deschutes County NHMP is a multi-jurisdictional, county-wide plan that assesses and outlines mitigation strategies for hazards specific to our geography, as well as for each of the four communities in the county: La Pine, Sisters, Bend, and Redmond. 

A successful NHMP review process must include:

• The most up to date information for each local hazard, maps, and other relevant data; 
• Documentation of the NHMP review process;
• Opportunities for public engagement and feedback on the plan;
• Participation from representatives of each jurisdiction to be included in the plan (unless a community decides to create their own NHMP); and
• Documentation of adoption of the mitigation plan addendum for each jurisdiction.