2024 Hazard Mitigation Plan Update

Hazard Mitigation
Hazard mitigation is any cost-effective and sustained action taken to reduce the long-term risk to human life, property, and infrastructure from hazards.

Mitigation activities can and should be taken before a disaster occurs. After disasters, repairs and reconstruction are completed in such a way as to simply restore damaged property to pre-disaster conditions. However, the implementation of mitigation actions during the rebuilding phase following a disaster can lead to building back stronger, safer and smarter. 

2024 Cook County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan
Cook County is in the process of updating the 2024 Cook County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (MJ-HMP). A Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) is “the representation of the jurisdiction’s commitment to reduce risks from natural hazards, serving as a guide for decision-makers as they commit resources to reducing the effects of natural hazards” (44 CFR 201.6). HMPs establish and maintain eligibility for hazard mitigation assistance grant funds. The planning process is as important as the plan itself because it creates a framework for governments to reduce the negative impacts of future disasters on key community assets, such as lives, property, and the economy. Hazard mitigation planning can significantly reduce the physical, financial, and emotional losses caused by disasters.

The Hazard Mitigation Plan identifies the natural hazards that threaten the County, highlights their negative impacts, and proposes various plans and strategies to mitigate their effects. While “having a plan” is important in all instances, this plan is even more important because it allows the County (and those participating municipalities) to be eligible to access federal grant funding.