2019 Chemung County Hazard Mitigation Plan

The purpose of the Plan is to protect people and structures and to minimize the costs of disaster response and recovery. Chemung County updated their Hazard Mitigation Plan ("Plan" or "HMAP") to address natural hazards that affect their area. The participating jurisdictions are:

• Chemung County
• City of Elmira
• Town of Ashland
• Town of Baldwin
• Town of Big Flats
• Town of Catlin
• Town of Chemung
• Town of Elmira
• Town of Erin
• Town of Horseheads
• Town of Southport
• Town of Van Etten
• Town of Veteran
• Village of Elmira Heights
• Village of Horseheads
• Village of Millport
• Village of Wellsburg

Criteria for Hazard Mitigation Plan

The Hazard Mitigation Plan complies with all applicable provisions of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) and FEMA's criteria for approval of mitigation plans required in the Hazard Mitigation Assistance Unified Guidance (July, 2013). With Chemung County having a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan, the jurisdictions will be eligible for grant funds through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) programs, which include: 

• Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA)
• Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)
• Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM)

Funds from these federal grant programs may be awarded directly to Chemung County and planning participants to implement mitigation projects identified in the Plan.

Steps in the Plan

Representatives from each of the participating jurisdictions provided valuable in put into the planning process. After the Planning Team was organized, a capability assessment was developed and distributed at the Kick-Off Workshop. Hazards were identified and assessed, and results associated with each of the hazards were provided at the Risk Assessment Workshop. Based on Chemung County's identified vulnerabilities, specific mitigation strategies were discussed and developed at the Mitigation Strategy Workshop. Finally, Plan maintenance and implementation procedures were developed.