Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

The Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) strives to inventory potential hazards that the City of Oakland is most vulnerable to, assess risks to the city’s residents, buildings and critical facilities, and develop a mitigation strategy to reduce the risk of exposure and allow a swift and organized recovery should a disaster occur. This mitigation strategy is reflected in an Action Plan. In the past year, the City of Oakland has been busy working efforts to mitigate hazards, including: 

• Development of a Vegetation Management Plan to reduce wildfire hazards, scheduled to be approved in May 2024 
• Declaration of wildfire management as a Citywide priority 
• Successful fundraising for a Municipal Resilience Hub at the Lincoln Community Center, including a $9.25 million grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture 
• Development of conceptual project which would construct bioretention facilities around Raimondi Park, which would treat 4 acres of impervious roadway and remove PCBs from stormwater from a 43-acre drainage area using high-flow biofilters.  

Each year, City staff develop a LHMP Annual Progress Report describing the progress on the LHMP Action Plan. Our 2024 LHMP Annual Progress Report was open for public comment between May 13 – May 28, 2024, the public comment period is now closed. However, you are welcome to contact   emergencyplanning@oaklandca.gov with questions and concerns. To learn about communities preparing for disaster visit: Ready Oakland  

This plan strives to inventory potential hazards that the City of Oakland is most vulnerable to, assess risks to the city’s residents, buildings and critical facilities, and develop a mitigation strategy to reduce the risk of exposure and allow a swift and organized recovery should a disaster occur.

The hazards that the LHMP addresses include:

• Dam Failure or Flooding
• Drought
• Earthquake
• Flooding from Storm
• Public Health: Epidemic or Pandemic
• Severe Weather: Wind, Extreme Cold, Extreme Heat, etc.
• Tsunami/Seiche caused by earthquake shaking
• Wildfire
• Climate Change

In 2021, the City of Oakland updated its 2016-2021 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP). The Plan update was a requirement to maintain FEMA funding eligibility. The updated Plan helps guide the City and its partners to implement these strategies throughout Oakland. This 2021 plan will remain active until 2026.

• Local Mitigation Planning Handbook
• Integrating Historic Property and Cultural Resource Considerations into Hazard Mitigation Planning

All project updates will be posted to this website so that you can easily find and engage with the information that matters to you.

Steering Committee Meetings

• Steering Committee Meeting Agenda #1 - January 21, 2021
• Steering Committee Meeting Summary #1
• Steering Committee Meeting Agenda #2 - February 18, 2021
• Steering Committee Meeting Summary #2
• Steering Committee Meeting Agenda #3 - March 18, 2021
• Steering Committee Meeting Summary #3
• Steering Committee Meeting Agenda #4 - April 15, 2021
• Steering Committee Meeting Summary #4

Get More Info

• Sign-up for Emergency Alerts [AC Alert]
• CORE (Communities of Oakland Respond to Emergencies)
• Sign-up for upcoming CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training
• Volunteer for the 2021 Annual Citywide Emergency Preparedness & Disaster Response Drill
• Email questions + comments to EmergencyPlanning@oaklandca.gov

Facebook

Oakland Fire

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@OaklandFireCa

Twitter

@OaklandFireCa

Hashtags

#ReadyOakland

#OFD

*Please use these hashtags when sharing information about the LHMP on social media

The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA) requires local governments to adopt a federally approved Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan in order to receive pre- and post-disaster mitigation funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The DMA emphasizes planning for disasters before they occur.

For more information about FEMA funding tied to an active/updated Hazard Mitigation Plan, visit FEMA's website.

MISSION STATEMENT

To equitably reduce risk and increase resilience, the mission of the City of Oakland Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is to establish and promote a comprehensive mitigation strategy and efforts to protect the Whole Community and environment from identified natural and manmade hazards.

GOALS

1. Protect life, property, the environment, and natural and cultural resources.
2. Increase public awareness of and the prevention and preparedness for risks.
3. Coordinate with other programs that can support or enhance hazard mitigation.
4. Increase the effectiveness of emergency services provided to the City.
5. Pursue feasible, cost-effective and environmentally-sound hazard mitigation measures.
6. Increase adaptive capacity to reduce risk from hazard impacts based on a changing climate.
7. Reduce racial disparities in how communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from local hazards.

OBJECTIVES

1. Reduce repetitive losses due to flood, fire and earthquake by informing land use, design, and construction policies.
2. Identify natural and manmade hazards that threaten life and property in the City.
3. Use best available hazard data while reviewing proposed development opportunities.
4. Encourage the incorporation of hazard mitigation measures into repairs, major alterations, new development, and redevelopment practices, especially in areas subject to substantial hazard risk.
5. Encourage and support leadership within the private sector, non-profit agencies and community-based organizations to promote and implement local hazard mitigation activities.
6. Incorporate risk reduction considerations in new and updated infrastructure and development plans to reduce the impacts of hazards.
7. Continue providing City emergency services staff with training and equipment to address all identified hazards.
8. Develop and provide updated information about threats, hazards, vulnerabilities, and mitigation strategies to state, regional, and local agencies, as well as private sector and nonprofit groups.
9. Establish and maintain partnerships among all levels of government, private sector, community groups, and institutions of higher learning that improve and implement methods to protect life and property.
10. Create financial and regulatory incentives to motivate stakeholders such as homeowners, private sector businesses, and nonprofit community organizations to mitigate hazards and risk.
11. Continue developing and strengthening inter-jurisdictional coordination and cooperation in the area of emergency services.
12. Support the protection of vital records, and strengthen or replace buildings, infrastructure, and lifelines to minimize post-disaster disruption and facilitate short-term and long-term recovery.
13. Coordinate state and local efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and implement climate action strategies through hazard mitigation plans and actions.
14. Implement hazard mitigation programs and projects that protect life, property, and the environment.
15. Promote and implement hazard mitigation plans and projects that are consistent with state, regional and local climate adaptation goals, policies, and programs.
16. Advance community resilience through preparation, adoption, and implementation of state, regional, and local multi-hazard mitigation plans and projects.
17. Prioritize vulnerable populations in policy responses, including but not limited to, low-income individuals and families; people of color; the young; the elderly; people with disabilities; people with existing health issues, and people with limited English proficiency (LEP).