Mitigation Best Practices

Mitigation Best Practices are stories, articles or case studies about individuals, businesses or communities that undertook successful efforts to reduce or eliminate disaster risks.

They demonstrate that disaster preparedness decreases repetitive losses, financial hardship and loss of life.

FEMA seeks to inspire and educate citizens to consider mitigation options by highlighting proven practices implemented by others in their homes and communities. It is our hope that visitors to this library find relatable and informative techniques to reduce their risk and eliminate hazards.

Explore mitigation planning examples on the Mitigation Planning Success Stories story map. It highlights success stories on plan implementation, plan integration, outreach, engagement and equity. If you have a success story worth sharing, please email us.

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Tulsa, Oklahoma, has a long history with flood-related disasters and hazard mitigation planning. Decades ago, a George Washington University study identified Tulsa as the most frequently flooded city in the United States.
Bourne, Massachusetts, is the gateway to other Cape Cod towns. It spans the Cape Cod Canal and has 55 miles of coastline. It uniquely faces Cape Cod Bay to the northeast and Buzzards Bay to the west. The town faces many risks and vulnerabilities from coastal flooding, erosion and severe storms. Water quality is also a serious concern for the town estuaries.
Coastal communities face a range of flooding hazards that include storm surge, waves and erosion—all of which can severely damage homes, businesses and infrastructure. Waves, in particular, can damage properties located farther inland than one would expect. Some communities use the Limit of Moderate Wave Action (LiMWA) to inform the adoption of higher building codes and standards in areas vulnerable to waves.
This study evaluated 197 elevation projects in northern California following winter floods in 2006
735 Acquisitions on Village Creek

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MA – Despite 10 days of record-breaking flooding across northeastern Massachusetts in March 2010, the city of Melrose “dodged the bullet,” thanks to the new drainage system for the city’s Ell Pond.

ALEXANDRIA, VA - Christine and Ron Redon had a close encounter with flooding when the Hurricane Isabel storm surge invaded their New Alexandria neighborhood. They heeded the call to evacuate and were not at home to watch as the water rose in their neighborhood during the dead of night.

As daylight returned, all of their neighbors were shocked and dismayed to find two-feet of brackish water in their homes. The Redon home was undamaged.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MA – The city of Melrose took to heart the lessons of the “Mother’s Day storm” of 2006, when several feet of water inundated streets, school yards, and playing fields, causing damages to residences and businesses. Since then, Melrose officials have taken significant steps to reduce the risk of flooding in several areas of the city.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MA – Flooding and the closure of East Street, just east of the town center in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, has been an annual – and in some years an even more frequent – event. Yet, when heavy rains in March 2010 brought record-breaking flows to streams across eastern Massachusetts, the floodwaters of Strongwater Brook topped out below the East Street roadway, thanks to recent improvements in the drainage system there.

ELLICOTTVILLE, NY - The configuration of the Martha Street Bridge abutments and channel caused floodwaters to spill into Ellicottville during repeated flood events. By replacing the one-lane bridge with a two-lane bridge and altering the abutments and channel to allow for greater water flow, the amount of backwater was reduced and flooding was alleviated.

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