Task 9 Create a Safe and Resilient Community

Challenges to Achieving Mitigation Goals

Community officials make difficult decisions every day to balance competing priorities for local resources, funding, and staff time. Multiple, competing priorities can be a major challenge to implementing the plan and accomplishing your community’s mitigation goals. Other common challenges include the following:
  • Loss of interest or meeting fatigue after the mitigation planning and adoption process ends on the part of the planning team, stakeholders, and the public
  • Lack of funding and other resources and capabilities, including staff time and technical expertise, to accomplish the mitigation actions
  • Insufficient political will to address the more complicated problems and controversial solutions
  • Apathy created by “disaster amnesia” or the perception that “nothing ever happens here” when time passes without a significant hazard event
  • Disconnect between the mitigation strategy and the day-to-day operations, staff work plans and procedures, and the policies and objectives of other local plans and programs