The goal of the local emergency management program is to save lives, prevent property damage, and minimize damage to the environment. As Newaygo County is vulnerable to a wide range of natural, technological, and human-related hazards, one of the first steps of building an effective emergency management program is to develop an understanding of those threats. This can be accomplished through the development of a Hazard Analysis. Once complete, a Mitigation Plan can be developed to identify the community’s long-term strategy to reduce disaster damages to lives, property, and the economy from future disasters.
Benefits of a Hazard Mitigation Plan
The purpose of a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan include:
- Reduce disaster impacts: Mitigation plans aim to minimize the effects of natural hazards like floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and severe storms.
- Break the cycle in damage: By implementing mitigation measures, communities can avoid the costly and disruptive cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage.
- Increase the community’s resilience: Mitigation planning helps communities become more resilient by identifying vulnerabilities and developing strategies to address them.
- Maintain eligibility for FEMA funding pre and post disaster: FEMA requires hazard mitigation plans for certain types of non-emergency disaster assistance.
Components of a Hazard Mitigation Plan
There are several key components of the Newaygo County Hazard Management Plan that Newaygo County Emergency Services will need your engagement with throughout the planning process. Your involvement is important to ensure the plan reflects your community needs and priorities. Key components of the plan include:
- Community Profile: Highlights information that is relevant to hazard mitigation, such as the community’s present land use and development patterns, geography and climate, transportation network, demographic information, key industries, major organizations active in the community, the locations and nature of important community facilities, emergency warning system coverage, and other information that is relevant to the community’s safety and smooth functioning.
- Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment: Identifies potential hazards and assessing the risks they pose to the community. The plan reflects historical occurrences, potential risks, impacts to the community, and changes in frequency of occurrences.
- Mitigation Strategy and Development: Identifies long term strategies to reduce risks identified in the hazard analysis.
- Action Items and Tracking Progress of Mitigation Activities: Identifies potential mitigation projects, priorities, funding courses, and progress of existing mitigation activities.
Hazard Mitigation Assistance
State, Indian Tribal, and local governments are required to develop a hazard mitigation plan as a condition for receiving certain types of non-emergency disaster assistance. Please visit the Hazard Mitigation Assistance page at https://www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-assistance for more information on the specific plan requirements for the various mitigation grant programs, as well as FEMA funds available for mitigation plan development and mitigation projects.
Newaygo County’s Hazard Management Plan
The Newaygo County Hazard Management Plan is a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan that communities use to reduce the potential impacts of natural disasters, focusing on long term solutions to prevent or minimize future damage and loss. This plan has been in place since 2007 and is updated every 5 years in accordance with criteria contained in 44CFR Part 201, as authorized by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. The current plan was adopted by the Newaygo County Board of Commissioners via Resolution 05-006-21 on May 26, 2021 and is set to expire in June 2026.
Throughout the course of the next year, various components of the plan will be posted to the County’s Website for review and public input. Community engagement throughout this process is important to ensure that the plan reflects your communities needs and priorities.
- Review and comment of the 2025 Newaygo County Community Profile Posted March 11, 2025 (Newaygo County Community Profile)
- Take a few moments to complete a short survey on Hazards within Newaygo County (Newaygo County Hazard Survey)
- Review and comment on the 2026 Newaygo County Hazard Analysis posted October 30, 2025 (Newaygo County Hazard Analysis)
- Review and comment on the 2026 Newaygo County Hazard Mitigation section posted November 17, 2025 (Newaygo County Hazard Mitigation).
- The draft 2026-2031 Newaygo County Hazard Management Plan is currently under review with the Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division Hazard Mitigation Section and FEMA. The full version of the draft document can be viewed here (2026 DRAFT Newaygo County Hazard Management Plan)
- If you have any questions or comments in relation to the Community Profile or Hazard Analysis, please contact the Newaygo County Emergency Services Department. Thank you!