County Emergency Plans

Welcome  

The HMP will help our communities to prevent significant property damage and loss of life in the event of a disaster. The HMP is required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) every five years for our community to be eligible for certain types of grant funding. You can visit this page for project updates and ways that community members can influence plan development. 

The goal of the project is to save lives, property, and natural resources by reducing the vulnerability of Yakima County to disaster events. During this planning project, local leaders and community members will identify risks, assess capabilities, and formulate a strategy to reduce our community’s disaster vulnerability. 

Public and stakeholder participation and feedback are vital parts of the hazard mitigation planning process. Please check back regularly for information on upcoming opportunities to engage in the planning process. If you would like to get in touch with the project team, please use the following contact information. 

Project Contact: 

Tony Miller, Director 

antone.miller@co.yakima.wa.us 

To review the current Yakima County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan click here 

General Information 

Every year, natural hazards like wildfires, flooding, and drought cause property damage, loss of life, economic hardship, and other threats to our community’s public safety. In 2021 alone, there were 21 events across the United States that caused more than one billion dollars in damages. 

Our communities must address the response to these disasters – saving lives and property, and the recovery from disasters – repairing damages and making our community whole again. 

Before a disaster strikes, we can also work to mitigate potential damages and loss of life. This is the goal of the hazard mitigation plan. 

What is Hazard Mitigation? 

Hazard mitigation is any sustainable action to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to human life and property from hazards. Mitigation breaks the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. 

Hazard mitigation projects are the ways we can lessen the impact of future disasters on our community. They are the things we can do in the short term to be more protected in the future. Mitigation is a cost-effective way to reduce the risk of loss and help make communities in Yakima County more resilient. FEMA estimates that for every dollar invested in mitigation, we save six dollars in future costs during response and recovery from a disaster. 

What is a Hazard Mitigation Plan? 

A hazard mitigation plan is developed BEFORE a disaster strikes. Hazard mitigation planning has a wide range of benefits for our community. A well-organized plan will help us to document the hazards we face, the likelihood they will occur, and our community’s vulnerability to the effects of the hazards. It also lays out clear, community-informed goals and actions required for minimizing future loss of life, injury, property damage, and economic disruption. 

The hazard mitigation plan will help to: 

• Protect human life and prevent damage or loss of property. 
• Ensure continuity of government services and local business. 
• Promote inter-agency coordination and response. 
• Increase public awareness and preparedness about hazards within the community. 
• Develop more sustainable and disaster-resistant communities. 
• Maintain compliance with Federal regulations and requirements for continued eligibility for mitigation grant funding. Plans must be updated and approved by FEMA every 5 years. 

Under the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000), communities that do not have a FEMA approved hazard mitigation plan in place are no longer eligible for FEMA project grants under long standing programs such as the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA), Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and the Building Resilience Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC).

In Washington State, emergency management offices have numerous emergency plans. Our two most overarching plans are the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) and the Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP).

Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP)

A comprehensive emergency management plan is a basic plan with elements that address all natural and man-made disasters to which a political subdivision is vulnerable. The comprehensive emergency management plan specifies the purpose, organization, core capabilities, and responsibilities of the various agencies involved in disaster response and recovery. These responsibilities are broken down into what is referred to as ESFs (Emergency Support Functions).

Emergency response and coordination are strongly dependent on a common understanding of roles and responsibilities, as well as pre-established relationships. The revision/update is an ongoing process that provides an opportunity to engage with each other,

1) to gain a better understanding of what to expect from one another, and

2) to build improved working relationships with those who you may engage closely with during an incident.

Regardless of jurisdiction or organization, this process is a time to revisit expectations and legal responsibilities. If you are a city or town representative participating, this is a time to improve your understanding of how the county anticipates response to improve your own plans, as well as gain awareness of resource gaps needed to fill in your own jurisdiction.

The Washington State Military Department, Emergency Management Division (WEMD) Director Robert Ezelle congratulated Yakima County and Yakima Valley Emergency Management ’on this significant endeavor’ of the CEMP Revision in a letter dated September 18, 2019.