Peekskill Hazard Mitigation Plan

In accordance with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 that was put into motion when the President signed the Act on October 10, 2000 as Public Law 106-390, the City of Peekskill's Office of Emergency Management in conjunction with local, state and federal agencies has been creating Peekskill's own Disaster Mitigation Plan for submission to FEMA. The Act established the requirement of the need of an approved mitigation plan under Section 322 as a requirement for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds in addition to certain other levels of disaster assistance.

Mitigation is the first in the four phases on Emergency Management. Mitigation is defined as any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to life and property from a hazard event. Mitigation, also known as prevention, encourages long-term reduction of hazard vulnerability. The goal of mitigation is to save lives and reduce property damage. This coupled with preparedness; response and recovery define Emergency Management.

Peekskill's Mitigation Plan encompasses the results of a Hazard Analysis that was complete in the City by the Office of Emergency Management utilizing input from the following in an all day forum:

  • City Department personnel
  • School District
  • County Office of Emergency Management
  • State Office of Emergency Management
  • Local emergency responders
  • Local businesses
  • Public utilities
  • Surrounding communities and the public  

From this a list of hazards was created along with their relevance to the City and likely hood to occur. Over the following 18 months a series of meetings were held in which a plan was drafted and evolved through a series of modifications. This plan is a template that details the history and detail of the City itself, an overview of the city's land use and its population density, a detail of the actual planning process including meeting dates and participants, a list of the objectives set forth in the creation of the plan, a list of other plans that were either referenced of incorporated into the Peekskill Plan, a overview of the risk assessment and the Natural and Technological Hazards that Peekskill faces, what critical structures of government exist in Peekskill that are vital to operation, what plans are currently in place or would be considered to mitigate such hazards and lastly the plan itself detail the sets that will be taken to review it and keep it up to date.

Full Peekskill Hazard Mitigation Plan (PDF)