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| The Hazard Mitigation Section provides disaster planning
services to Hillsborough County citizens and other local agencies. Disaster
planning services include floodplain management, flood insurance, grants
assistance, and vulnerability assessments. The Section works with the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Florida Division of Emergency
Management, and local groups to provide technical assistance to homeowners,
businesses, developers, and the engineering community. Most of the time
spent by this group is in preparing background information that is then
incorporated into work performed by the county departments of Development
Services, Public Works, and Public Safety. Staff is knowledgeable in
most aspects of mitigation planning to handle citizens’ general
questions. There are three principal objectives that guide the direction of the
section. The first is to unify countywide initiatives that seek to reduce
the county's vulnerability to man-made and natural disasters. The second
is to ensure that county agencies and departments follow guidelines established
through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and maintain these
records with an aim to retain the county’s favorable insurance
rating. The better the county’s rating, the bigger the discount
applied towards individual flood insurance policies; the county is currently
in the top 4% of all communities in the Nation! The third and final objective
is to assist government entities, county residents, and businesses with
various projects to reduce their vulnerability. Several services are
provided to meet these objectives, including maintaining the Local Mitigation
Strategy, ensuring the county implements minimum standards associated
with the National Flood Insurance Program, and ensuring participation
with Federal and State governments in the federally-designed Project
Impact program.
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