Tri-City Local Hazard Mitigation Plan 2023

2023 Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines hazard mitigation as, "any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to life and property from natural hazards."  Another way to understand hazard mitigation is as the prevention component of the emergency management process (see figure below). 

• Preparedness - Activities are the emergency plans, training, drills, and exercises that individuals, communities, and first responders participate in on almost a daily basis.  These are things done to get ready for an emergency or disaster before it happens.
• Response - Short-term emergency actions taken to address the immediate impacts of a hazard event or disaster.
• Recovery - Longer-term process of restoring the community back to normal or pre-disaster conditions.
• Mitigation - or prevention - Activities are actions that will prevent or eliminate losses, even if an incident does occur. Mitigation can reduce or eliminate the need for an emergency response and greatly reduce the recovery period.

To address Hazard Mitigation in the Tri-City planning area, the City of Union City is partnering with the Cities of Fremont and Newark, the Alameda County Water District, and the Union Sanitary District to develop the Tri-City Multi-jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) to reduce long-term risk and loss to people and property in the Tri-City area, and to bolster community resilience in the face of future natural disasters.  Additionally, communities with a FEMA-approved LHMP are eligible for FEMA pre- and post-disaster mitigation grant funding and for lower costs of flood insurance to residents through the National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS).

The LHMP development process is as important as the plan itself.  It creates a framework for risk-based decision making to reduce damages to lives, property, and the economy from future disasters.  

2023 LHMP Development Process 

The participating jurisdictions and special districts are kicking off the LHMP development process with meetings starting in late May 2023 and anticipate completion in Spring 2024.

For more information on this project, upcoming meetings, and how you can get involved, visit www.my.fremont.gov/tri-city-hazard-plan.  The MyFremont website will maintain and update information throughout the project duration.

Please contact the project management team lead for the City of Union City:  Rich Martinez, Emergency Services Coordinator at ricardom@unioncity.org with any questions.