City of Irvine
2020 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan
C HAPTER 1 – I NTRODUCTION
P LAN P URPOSE AND A UTHORITY
Hazard events can lead to injuries or death, affect overall health and safety of a community, damage or destroy public and private property, harm ecosystems, and disrupt key services. Although the hazard event itself often gets the most attention, it is only one part of a larger emergency management cycle. Emergency planners and responders can take steps during the response, recovery, mitigation, and preparedness phases of the cycle to minimize the harm caused by a disaster. This Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) focuses on optimizing the mitigation phase of the cycle. Mitigation involves making a community more resilient to disasters so that when hazard events do ultimately occur, the community suffers less damage and can recover more effectively. It differs from preparedness, which involves advanced planning for how best to respond when a disaster occurs or is imminent. For
example, a policy to make homes structurally stronger, so they suffer less damage during an earthquake is a mitigation action, while fully equipping shelters to accommodate people who lose their homes in an earthquake is a preparedness action. Some activities may qualify as both.
The City of Irvine (City), like other communities, could potentially suffer severe harm from hazard events, and although large disasters may cause widespread devastation, even smaller disasters can have substantial effects. The City cannot make itself completely immune to hazard events, but this LHMP can help make the community a safer place to live, work, and visit. This LHMP provides a comprehensive assessment of the threats that the City faces from natural and human-caused hazard events and a coordinated strategy to reduce these threats. It identifies resources and information that can help community members, City staff, and local officials understand local threats and make informed decisions. The LHMP can also support increased coordination and collaboration between the City, other public agencies, local employers, service providers, community members, and other key stakeholders.
KEY TERMS Hazard event: An emergency as a result of a natural or human-caused event that has the potential to cause harm.
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