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What is Mitigation? 

Mitigation is the ongoing effort to lessen the impact of natural disasters on people and property. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has designated mitigation as the cornerstone of emergency management. Vermont Emergency Management also believes that the best response to natural disaster is to prevent or diminish its impact before it occurs. Consequently, the State of Vermont is invested in creating mitigation opportunities in all of its emergency management initiatives. There are a number of programs that directly support mitigation in Vermont:  the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMAP) for NFIP insured properties, the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and Project Impact. Mitigation begins with local communities assessing their risks and repetitive problems and making a plan for creating solutions to these problems and reducing the vulnerability of its citizens and property to risk.

Mitigation is defined as "sustained action that reduces or eliminates long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards and their effects." It describes the ongoing effort at the Federal, State, local, business, and individual efforts to lessen the impact of disasters upon our families, homes, communities and economy.

Through the application of mitigation technologies and practices, we can ensure that fewer Vermonters and their communities become victims of natural disasters. For example, mitigation measures can be applied to strengthen your home, so that your family and belongings are better protected from floods, fires, earthquakes, wind damage, and other natural hazards. They can be utilized to help business and industry avoid damages to their facilities and remain operational in the face of catastrophe. Mitigation technologies can be used to strengthen hospitals, fire stations, and other critical service facilities so that they can remain operational or reopen more quickly after an event. In addition, mitigation measures can help reduce disaster losses and suffering so that there is less demand for money and resources in the aftermath. The end result of Mitigation is a reduction in the cost of natural disaster response and recovery to each individual Vermont taxpayer; both in a decrease in costs to State and Federal governments and also in the losses suffered by each homeowner in the event of a natural disaster.

In practice, mitigation can take many forms. It can involve actions such as:

Promoting sound land use planning based on known hazards.

Buying flood insurance to protect your home and belongings.

Relocating or elevating structures out of the floodplains.

Elevating utilities and laundry out of basements

Securing shelves and water heaters to nearby walls.

Developing, adopting, and enforcing effective building codes and standards.

Engineering roads and bridges to carry a 25-year event without damage

Using fire-retardant materials in new construction; and

Developing and implementing a plan in your business or community to reduce your susceptibility to identified hazards.

Vermont Emergency Management
103 S. Main Street
Waterbury, VT  05671
800-347-0488 or 802-241-5258
FAX 802-241-5556
E-mail rdoherty@dps.state.vt.us