Hazard Mitigation Plan 2023 Update

Brookline’s Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee has updated the Town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan. This plan serves as a strategy for reducing current and future risks of natural hazards and climate change. Once approved by FEMA, the plan allows the Town to apply for pre-disaster mitigation grant funding.

Read the final draft sent to MEMA and FEMA for approval on June 26, 2023:
Hazard Mitigation Plan (PDF)


Brookline’s Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee has developed this plan as a strategy for reducing current and future natural hazards risks and impacts from climate change. When implemented, the Hazard Mitigation Plan makes the Town more resilient to natural hazards such as flooding, snowstorms, high winds, and extreme temperatures. Town officials and local stakeholders developed this plan with support from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approval, and Town adoption, of the Hazard Mitigation Plan Update allows the Town to apply for pre- and post-disaster hazard mitigation grant funds.

This plan is being developed by the Office of Emergency Management and members of Brookline’s Emergency Management Team.  Jamie Caplan Consulting LLC, a Northampton, MA based firm, is leading this effort on behalf of the Town and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. 

Brookline developed a Climate Vulnerability Assessment Action plan in 2018 that also identified possible actions to mitigate risks to natural hazards and climate change. The 2023 Brookline Hazard Mitigation Plan will include all of those identified actions still relevant today.

Hazard Mitigation Goals

Life/PropertyReduce the loss of life, property, infrastructure, and cultural and historic resources from natural disasters and climate change.
InfrastructureMitigate risk to critical facilities and infrastructure from natural hazards and climate change.
CapacityExpand the Town's capacity to mitigate risk by adopting a culture of hazard mitigation through regulations, planning, and regional collaboration.
Natural ResourcesImplement actions that minimize risk from climate change and natural hazards to preserve or restore the functions of natural systems.
EducationEducate all stakeholders about the value of hazard mitigation and how to implement it in their work, businesses, and homes.

Follow this link to listen to the January 9, 2023 Hazard Mitigation Plan recording
Passcode: Nq25&M6c

Follow this link to listen to the May 4, 2023 Hazard Mitigation Plan recording

For questions regarding this project, please contact Cheryl Anne Snyder, Emergency Management Coordinator, Office of Emergency Management, Email: [email protected].

A flooded street
A driver cleans snow off a car
Fallen trees cover a waterway