The planning team will conduct a risk assessment to determine the potential impacts of hazards to the people, economy, and built and natural environments of the community. The risk assessment provides the foundation for the rest of the mitigation planning process, which is focused on identifying and prioritizing actions to reduce risk to hazards. In addition, the risk assessment also can be used to establish emergency preparedness and response priorities, inform land use and comprehensive planning, and facilitate decision making by elected officials, city and county departments, businesses, and organizations in the community.

Task 5 presents a framework for conducting a local risk assessment. Many approaches to developing a risk assessment are possible, depending on available data, technology, and resources. Local risk assessments do not require sophisticated technology, but should be accurate, current and relevant. Some communities may choose to address a broader range of threats and hazards, or tie their hazard identification and risk assessment to other planning initiatives.

In our evaluation of 175 hazard mitigation plans, we identified the following best practices:

• A map displaying locations in the planning area affected by each hazard
• A table or map displaying the history of each hazard in the planning area
• The integration of the potential impacts of climate change into the risk assessment
• A section detailing potential technological and human caused hazards
• Maps displaying areas vulnerable to hazards relative to identified socially vulnerable populations
• Maps of major economic centers relative to areas vulnerable to identified hazards
• Maps of critical facilities relative to areas vulnerable to identified hazards
• Maps of future development relative to areas vulnerable to identified hazards
• A table showing projected losses for different storm scenarios
• A table showing projected losses for different development scenarios
• Using a Priority Risk Index to quantify vulnerability