Given the recent increase and severity of natural disasters, emergency managers nationwide are continually looking for ways to mitigate against potential impacts to their communities. And for very good reason. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2021 was the third costliest year on record for natural disasters in the United States.  

Recognizing this trend and clearly hoping to increase the emergency management community’s knowledge of its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will host a timely and informative webinar series on the subject in March 2022.  

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Webinar Series will bring together subject matter experts and practitioners to provide technical information, best practices, and tools and resources for submitting a successful HMGP application.  

The first webinar in the three-part series, HMGP 101 Program Overview, will take place on Thursday, March 10, at 2:30-4:00 PM ET. It will provide an overview of HMGP, including program requirements and how to complete a successful application.  

The second webinar in the series, Nature-Based Solutions, is scheduled for Thursday, March 17, at 2:30-4:00 PM ET. Its purpose is to provide an overview of how to incorporate nature-based solutions into mitigation projects, the benefits of these solutions, and examples of successful projects.  

The third and final webinar of the series, Benefit-Cost Analysis 101, will take place on Thursday, March 31, at 2:30-4:00 PM ET. It will provide an overview of the fundamental concepts of benefit-cost analysis (BCA), with specific instructions on completing a BCA (an HMGP application requirement) using the FEMA BCA Toolkit.  

At BOLDplanning, a division of Agility Recovery, we believe all emergency managers, i.e., state, local, tribal, and territorial, will benefit from the information shared during March 2022. We encourage you (and others) to register online today here.

Also, FEMA plans to host additional HMGP-related webinars in the coming months. Rest assured, BOLDplanning will pass the dates and times on to you as soon as they made available. Â