Hazard Mitigation Plan

A planning team comprised of representation from Westmoreland County Departments of Public Safety, Planning, Public Works, & GIS, and Local Emergency Management, Local Municipalities, PEMA, Conservation District, Municipal Water Authority and Resource preservation have been meeting regularly to participate in the mitigation planning process. The purpose has been to continuously foster the County-wide multi-hazard mitigation plan for all municipalities in Westmoreland County. The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires all local, county, tribal, and state governments to have a FEMA approved hazard mitigation plan in order to be eligible for certain disaster mitigation funds.

Municipal Adoptions of 2020 Plan

This plan focuses on the area's most threatening hazards and provides a strategy to reduce or eliminate the risk from those hazards to the people and property of Westmoreland County. The first County Hazard Mitigation Plan was approved on September 11, 2009. Updates are required every five years and data is collected continuously to keep planning and public safety interests foremost in decision making for communities.

Planning makes it possible to manage the entire cycle of a potential crisis. Strategic and operational planning establishes priorities, identifies expected levels of performance and capability requirements, provides the standard for assessing capabilities, and helps stakeholders learn their roles. The planning elements identify what an organization's Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) or Emergency Operations Plans (EOP) should include for ensuring that contingencies are in place for delivering the capability during a large scale disaster.

In this effort, Westmoreland County Planning & Department of Public Safety continually update and look to improve planning documents to aid in ensuring that the population of Westmoreland County is safer from natural and man-made disasters.

Contact the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety for an orientation package on Hazard Mitigation. Email comments and hazard issues to the County Hazard Mitigation Officer.

Current status of the plan

44 CFR Part 201; Hazard Mitigation Planning §322 of the Stafford Act, as amended by §104 of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000

  • Original Westmoreland County Resolution #38-2006; October 12, 2006
  • FEMA approved September 11, 2009 [June 30, 2009 submittal]
  • Westmoreland County Resolution #25-2009; October 8, 2009
  • Pending Municipal Adoptions

2009 Plan

2015 Plan