Step 3 answers the question: "How will the community's assets be affected by the hazard event?"

This step provides the community and the State or Tribe with a common framework in which to measure the effects of hazards on vulnerable structures. Steps 1 and 2 of the risk assessment phase involve gathering data on the hazards that may affect the community and the assets that can be damaged by the hazard event. All that information will be put to analyze risk.

This step is not required for approval of a local hazard mitigation plan by FEMA. If it is completed, it does provide a greater degree of dependability upon which to base the hazard mitigation strategy. The list of activities at right provides only a brief synopsis of how to complete a loss estimate: