SACRAMENTO, CA – In an effort to enhance California’s resilience against natural disasters, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) hosted a two-day Hazard Mitigation Summit with more than 40 presenters and subject matter experts to facilitate conversations about the future of hazard mitigation in California.
Cal OES convened over 340 representatives from community-based organizations, tribes, private and non-profit organizations, and government agencies to find innovative ways to strengthen California in the face of natural disasters.
“It’s important for us to identify the needs of our communities and understand the unique risks and hazards throughout the state. By gathering state and local leaders at the summit, we’re able to have meaningful discussions to help all communities to be more prepared for disasters and help them minimize impacts,” said Robyn Fennig, Chief of Hazard Mitigation at Cal OES.
Key topic areas included overviews on mitigation in emergency management as well as grant opportunities for funding for hazard mitigation projects. The summit also included hazard-specific sessions on fire, seismic, floods and climate-driven emerging hazards.
“In order for us to be able to share best practices, we want to create a forum to highlight our successes and challenges. We recognize that investing in mitigation is how we prevent the impacts of disasters in our communities to make sure our communities are better prepared and protected from the impacts of climate change,” said Melissa Boudrye, Chief of Resilience at Cal OES
Cal OES’s hazard mitigation team encourages emergency members and all Californians to visit Cal OES’s State Mitigation Planning website to learn more about the state’s mitigation efforts. Multilingual translations for key resources and a critical hazards webinar series are also available on the website.
Resources
Grant Opportunities: Hazard Mitigation Assistance
Resiliency in Action: Loss Avoidance