Think back to the beginning of this lesson when we talked about hazards and community assets. Risk is where hazards and assets overlap.

Risk, for the purposes of hazard mitigation planning, is the potential for damage or loss created by the interaction of hazards with community assets. Damage and impacts occur when people, property, and other community assets are exposed to hazards. That’s what makes a hazard a disaster. Impacts are the consequences or effects of the hazard on the community and its assets. The type and severity of impacts are based on the vulnerability of the asset, as well as the community’s ability to mitigate, prepare, respond, and recover from events.

Multi-Jurisdiction Considerations:

• Describe unique or varied hazards within communities.
• Assess assets and risks for each jurisdiction. Assets, vulnerabilities, and overall risk are unique to each community. For multi-jurisdictional planning efforts, the risk assessment must result in an evaluation of potential impacts and issues of concern for each participating jurisdiction to use in developing mitigation actions specific to each jurisdiction.