A Community Emergency Response Team disaster training exercise in Temecula.
Yesterday, we passed along information about a survey on why people didn’t vote in our recent city elections. Â Today, we have an invitation for another survey, this time on city disaster planning.
The City of Los Angeles is updating its Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) to prepare for disasters such as earthquakes, floods, fires, hazardous materials incidents, power outages, infrastructure failure, transportation accidents or even terrorism, and to lessen our vulnerability to such events and demonstrate the City’s commitment to reducing risks. Â The LHMP specifies actions that can help reduce injuries and losses from disasters, and ensure that critical city services and facilities will continue to function after a disaster.
As part of the plan update process, the city needs public input, and would like to know what concerns citizens have before, during or after a disaster.  To help collect that information, all residents, business owners and City employees are encouraged to take the Public Hazard Mitigation Survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CityofLosAngelesLHMPSurveyÂ
The LHMP works with existing planning tools such as building and zoning regulations, other long-range plans, and environmental plans. The planning process includes conducting a thorough hazard vulnerability analysis, creating community disaster mitigation priorities, and developing mitigation strategies and projects.  Once the LHMP is reviewed and approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the City is also eligible to apply for grants to help reduce our vulnerability to disasters, which can help break the cycle of disaster and ensure a sustainable future for the next generation.
For more information about the LHMP and city disaster planning, see http://www.emergency.lacity.org/hmp-resources