Local Hazard Mitigation
The City of Seal Beach recently initiated the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) update preparation. The LHMP documents the City’s strategy for reducing the vulnerability to natural hazards (such as wildfires, earthquakes, or drought) and human-caused hazards (hazardous materials spill, pandemic). The purpose of the LHMP is to identify specific projects, actions, and partnerships for the City to become more resilient to hazards in the future.
What is a Hazard Mitigation Plan?
A Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) is a framework that guides our community in making decisions and developing policies to reduce or eliminate risk to life and property. The plan identifies the types of hazards that threaten our community, evaluates our vulnerability to those threats, and outlines a strategy to reduce or eliminate the risk posed by those threats.
Why is the LHMP Important?
The Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) requires an approved hazard mitigation plan to be eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hazard mitigation grant funding. Funding is critical to implementation of identified hazard mitigation programs that break the cycle of disaster, damage, restoration, and repeated damage.
How is the LHMP Developed?
The goal of an LHMP is to identify and address hazards specific to Seal Beach, identify mitigation actions to reduce the severity and impact of each hazard, and achieve certification by FEMA for hazard mitigation funding.
The LHMP primarily consists of three components:
- Hazard Profiles: type, location, extent, previous occurrences, probability of future events.
- Vulnerability Assessment: impacts of hazards, vulnerability to each hazard, repetitive loss, potential dollar losses.
- Mitigation Strategies: overarching goals, specific actions, and prioritization of those actions to reduce hazard impacts.
The LHMP is developed from a process-oriented approach, utilizing the experience from community partners such as neighboring cities and Orange County, as well as outside agencies and nonprofit organizations. The community partners provide key stakeholder input on the hazard profiles, vulnerability assessment and mitigation strategies as outlined above. This participation is documented and incorporated into the LHMP. Additionally, the LHMP will identify how the plan will be monitored, evaluated, and updated within a five-year cycle.
Once completed, the LHMP is submitted to Cal OES and FEMA for review and comment. After conditional approval is received from Cal OES and FEMA, the LHMP is approved locally by the City Council.
How can the Public Become Involved in the Hazard Mitigation Planning Process?
Public participation in the process is an important component in the planning process. Your participation helps raise awareness of the hazards we face in Seal Beach, and the actions needed to mitigate those hazards. By participating in the process, you will be taking time to consider the hazards in our community, the impact of those hazards on life and property, actions that need to be taken to reduce that impact, and the priority of these actions.
Opportunities for the community to provide input, ask questions, and review/comment on draft documents will be provided throughout the planning process. Your comments, questions, ideas, and concerns will have a significant role in the plan’s preparation.
TAKE OUR SURVEY. The LHMP community survey is available via SurveyMonkey through Spring 2025. This survey will help the LHMP Planning Team better understand the community’s concerns about natural hazards and identify policies and projects that can help lessen the impact of future hazard events. The survey provides the opportunity for you to share your opinions and participate in the mitigation planning process. The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete and is anonymous. Your information will be kept confidential. The results of the survey will be included within the LHMP. Take our survey, linked HERE.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH EVENT. Multiple community outreach meetings will be held to share information about the LHMP update and obtain community feedback. The outreach schedule is included below:
- Environmental Quality Control Board (EQCB) Meeting
- Wednesday, February 19 from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
- Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Meeting
- Thursday, March 13 at 7:30 AM
- Workshop/Open House at Leisure World
- Wednesday, March 19 from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
- Seal Beach Classic Car Show on Main Street
- Saturday, April 26 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
You are encouraged to attend the community outreach event and share your specific knowledge about hazards and hazard mitigation in your community.
PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT LHMP. The LHMP will be made available for a two-week public review period (anticipated to occur in early Summer 2025), where the City welcomes your comments and questions.
CONTACT US. Contact the City with questions and comments via Email: bgray@sealbeachca.gov
DRAFT DOCUMENTS.
Once available, draft documents will be posted here for review and comment.