Hazard Mitigation Plan

Overview

Every five years, Prince George’s County and the City of Laurel update their Hazard Mitigation Plan. The County recently lead a plan update for 2022.

The Hazard Mitigation Plan Update is meant to guide the actions Prince George’s County, the City of Laurel, and other incorporated municipalities will take to reduce risk from disasters over the next five years and beyond. This plan assesses natural hazards that can impact the County and develops a strategy to reduce the impacts and build resilience. It will be integrated with new and existing plans, building, and zoning regulations, and environmental projects.

This year, the plan will also take a much closer look at how future climate conditions will impact the hazards and how equity can be further elevated and integrated in the strategy. These additional focus areas will make sure that Prince George’s County and the City of Laurel responsibly and equitably plan actions and projects that will effectively mitigate risk from natural hazards for many years to come.

What is Hazard Mitigation?

Hazard mitigation is any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to life and property from hazards, such as flooding, winter storms, or dam failures. Disasters can cause loss of life, damage to buildings and infrastructure, and have long-lasting impacts on a community’s economic, social, and environmental well-being. To help prevent this, mitigation actions are taken, such as public education and outreach programs, elevating buildings above potential floodwaters, or strengthening building codes to make sure new buildings can withstand hurricane-force winds.

Prince George’s County’s goal is to become a disaster-resilient community, so proactive mitigation planning is an important component of overall development planning.

The purpose of mitigation planning is to both protect people and structures from damage and to minimize the costs of disaster response and recovery. Prince George’s County and the City of Laurel are focusing on hazard mitigation planning to reduce risk and create a safer, more disaster-resilient community.

Hazard Mitigation Plan

The current adopted Hazard Mitigation Plan is available for viewing or download: