We Are the Mitigation Directorate

Natural hazard mitigation is the sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and their property from natural disasters and their effects. Mitigation activities focus on breaking the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage and they result in safer communities and reduced loss of life and property. Hazard mitigation enables individuals and communities to recover more rapidly from disasters and lessens the financial impact of disasters on individuals, the U.S. Treasury, and State, local, and tribal governments.

The FEMA Mitigation Directorate manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and several other programs designed to reduce future losses to homes, businesses, schools, public buildings, and critical facilities such as hospitals and water purification plants from floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.

Partners and Programs

When the Mitigation Directorate was established on November 29, 1993, mitigation became the cornerstone of emergency management for the first time in the history of Federal disaster assistance.

Mitigation Directorate partners now include stakeholders in Federal, State, local, and tribal governments, and the private sector. Professional associations and non-governmental groups involved in public policy and administration, insurance, higher education, building sciences, and urban planning are private-sector partners.

In addition to administering the NFIP at the national level, the following Mitigation Directorate programs are administered at the State and local levels:

• Complying with or exceeding NFIP floodplain management regulations.
• Enforcing stringent building codes, flood-proofing requirements, seismic design standards, and wind-bracing requirements for new construction or repair of existing buildings.
• Adopting zoning ordinances to steer development away from areas subject to flooding, storm surge, or coastal erosion.
• Retrofitting public buildings to withstand hurricane-strength winds or seismic action.
• Acquiring damaged homes or businesses in flood-prone areas, relocating the structures, and returning the property to open space, wetlands, or recreational uses.
• Building community shelters and tornado-safe rooms to help protect people in their homes, public buildings, and schools located in hurricane- and tornado-prone areas.

Managing Risk

The Mitigation Directorate contains three divisions: Risk Analysis, Risk Reduction, and Risk Insurance. Programs within each division are significant components of the United States emergency management system.

Risk Analysis

The Risk Analysis Division applies engineering and planning practices in conjunction with advanced technology tools to identify hazards, assess vulnerabilities, and develop strategies to manage the risks associated with natural hazards. The statutorily authorized programs included in this division are Flood Map Modernization (including the Cooperating Technical Partners—CTP), the National Dam Safety Program, the National Hurricane Program, and Mitigation Planning.

Risk Reduction

The Risk Reduction Division works to decrease risk to life and property through land use controls, building practices, and other tools. These activities address risk in the existing “built environment” and in future development and they occur in both pre- and post-disaster conditions.

Programs within this division include the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP); Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA); Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM); Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL); Repetitive Flood Claims (RFC); Community Rating System (CRS); and National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP).

Risk Insurance

The Risk Insurance Division helps reduce flood losses by providing affordable flood insurance for property owners and by encouraging communities to adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations for mitigating the effects of flooding on new and improved structures. The NFIP is the primary program within the Risk Insurance Division.

Additional Information

Links to these programs are listed at the bottom of the Mitigation Directorate page on the FEMA website. In addition, numerous publications supporting the activities undertaken in Mitigation Directorate programs are available from the online FEMA Library. The FEMA Library search page includes a “Subject” drop-down list for selecting topic areas and programs to explore.

As the Mitigation Directorate approaches its 15th anniversary, natural hazards continue to threaten the United States. Fortunately, FEMA programs like those in the Mitigation Directorate are continually being refined to better protect citizens at risk.