Mitigation

What is mitigation?

Taking action prior to an event to lessen the effects of disasters and reduce the loss of life and property.

Frederick County Division of Emergency Management supports these efforts at the local level. 


Effective mitigation efforts can break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage.

Mitigation always starts with an analysis of risk. If we don't know what disasters can affect us and how, we can't figure out ways to reduce their impact.

The goal of risk reduction is to reduce the risk to life and property, including both existing buildings and future construction.  Communities use regulations, local ordinances, land use and building practices, and mitigation projects to reduce or eliminate long-term risk from hazards and their effects.

One of the ways Frederick County does this is through the Frederick County Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan. This important plan is updated every 5 years. The most recent update occurred in 2022.


  1. Flood Maps
  2. Mitigation and You
  3. Past Mitigation Projects

At the federal level, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maintains detailed flood maps. Flood maps help communities decide where to live, where and what to build, and how to protect themselves.


Flood maps show how likely it is for an area to flood. Any place with a 1% chance or higher of experiencing a flood each year is considered to have a high risk. Those areas have at least a one-in-four chance of flooding during a 30-year mortgage.

Using a flood map, you can see the relationship between your property and the areas with the highest risk of flooding. There is no such thing as a “no-risk zone,” but some areas have a lower or moderate risk.