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Outer Banks Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan approved
The North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) has approved the 2025 Outer Banks Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP). It has been moved forward to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for final review.
What does the Hazard Mitigation Plan do?
The plan is aimed at identifying, assessing, and mitigating hazards triggered by natural events and humans. Among other things, it updates the previous one as weather patterns change. These changes deliver increasingly intense storms. Engineering firm WSP, who produced the 2020 plan, helped lead the 2025 efforts to update the HMP. The updates account for current conditions that area localities face. They also detail how best to calibrate efforts to tackle them.
WithersRavenel’s Director of Utilities for Outer Banks, Mike Strader, PE, is a volunteer member of the Hazard Mitigation Plan Committee for the Outer Banks Region. He specifically serves Currituck County.
What NC counties does the Hazard Mitigation Plan cover?
The plan covers Currituck and Dare counties. It includes several municipalities such as Nags Head, Manteo, Kitty Hawk, Southern Shores, and Duck.
“We assessed and updated hazards and vulnerabilities for the region,” said Mike. “Having an approved Outer Banks Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan allows the local governments within the region to be eligible for federal mitigation grant funds. These include the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Program, all of which are administered by FEMA.”
According to Mike, an HMP allows Outer Banks’ localities to be pre-positioned and more apt to receive available mitigation funds before and after the next hazard event.
While this update awaits a FEMA review, the Outer Banks HMP approved previously has enabled the stakeholders to successfully obtain funding for hazard mitigation efforts that may be necessitated.
Learn more about how WithersRavenel multidisciplinary team can help you with building resiliency against hazards to your communities and infrastructure. Reach out to WithersRavenel Client Experience Manager David Gale at dgale@withersravenel.com.