City Plans
Planning enables a more effective response by laying out an agreed upon approach to how we will respond to incidents. They define our priorities and goals. They also outline how we are going to achieve our goals and what each person is responsible for doing. A good plan will use everyone's talents and stresses working together.
Plans are intended to manage risk. In Seattle, we have two plans that our planning efforts are based on. One is the Seattle Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Analysis (SHIVA) that was mentioned above and the other is the Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis (THIRA).
Every disaster is different and because we don't know when an incident will strike or what will happen when it occurs, plans are designed to be flexible and adaptable.
Most planners will tell you that the process of coming up with the plan is probably more valuable than the plan itself. In Seattle, we believe in planning with the community not for them. This means we need everyone to participate in building our plans. By planning together, we gain a better understanding of each other's capabilities and limitations, and we develop relationships and learn to trust those who will be working with us when the disaster occurs.
A plan is not something that gets completed and then goes on a bookshelf until it gets updated. Planning is part of a cycle of preparedness. Plans guide how we organize and equip our responders, conduct training and ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities within the plan. Exercises test our plans and identify where improvements are needed. Plans are then updated to incorporate lessons learned. In developing our plans we utilize a number of guides and reflect on best practices developed by others.
If you are interested in learning more about the City's plans, have feedback regarding a plan or would like to know how to get involved in our planning efforts, please send your comments to Seattle-EOC@seattle.gov
Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan
The Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) is an all-hazards plan describing how the City of Seattle's emergency management system is organized and managed in order to prepare for, prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from any emergency that could adversely affect the health and safety of Seattle's residents, visitors, and environment. Through a series of documents the CEMP describes how City departments coordinate emergency management related actions, resources, and activities with county, regional, state, federal, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations.
Response & Emergency Support Functions
The Emergency Operations Plan is one of the plans that make up the City of Seattle's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP). The Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) describes how the City will respond to save lives, protect property, and stabilize the incident. It describes how coordination is managed among the many departments and organizations that may be involved in response so that unity of effort may be achieved. The EOP has a number of supporting documents.
The EOP is supported by Emergency Support Functions (ESFs), Incident Operations Plans, and Support Operations Plan.
Federal, State, and local responders organize response operations by ESF, which provides a structure for coordinating common functions. Each ESF lists the roles and responsibilities that constitute a particular function and designate a City department as the lead. Also listed in each document are those departments, organizations, and partners that play a supporting role. This information provides guidance to departments in the development of plans, procedures and checklists. Seattle follows the national standard for numbering ESFs however, due to the Urban nature of the City, ESF #11 - Agriculture and Natural Resources is not represented in Seattle's ESF documents.
- ESF #01 - Transportation - 2021
- ESF #02 - Communications - 2021
- ESF #03 - Public Works and Engineering - 2021
- ESF #04 - Firefighting - 2021
- ESF #05 - Emergency Management - 2021
- ESF #06 - Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services - 2021
- ESF #07 - Logistics & Resources - 2021
- ESF #08 - Public Health and Medical Services - 2021
- ESF #09 - Search and Rescue - 2021
- ESF #10 - Oil and Hazardous Materials - 2021
- ESF #12 - Energy - 2021
- ESF #13 - Public Safety and Security - 2021
- ESF #14 - Transition to Recovery - 2021
- ESF #15 - External Affairs - 2021
The City Incident Operations Plans and Support Operations Plans include hazard specific response strategies (extreme heat, wildfire smoke, winter storms, earthquakes) and functional area strategies (alert and warning, evacuation, and military).
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- Incident Operations Plan - Extreme Heat and Wildfire Smoke - 2023
- Incident Operations Plan - Winter Storm - 2021
- Incident Operations Plan - Earthquake - 2021
- Incident Support Operations Plan - Alert and Warning - 2021
- Incident Support Operations Plan - Military Support - 2021
- Incident Support Operations Plan - Evacuation - 2021
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Seattle All Hazards Mitigation Plan. This is the guiding document for the city's hazard mitigation program. The plan lays out a strategy for minimizing the risk to people, property and the environment from natural and man-made hazards. View the plan.
Response to a disaster lasts until the fires are out, the survivors are rescued, and imminent danger is resolved. Recovery from a disaster often lasts months to years. The City of Seattle Disaster Recovery Framework was developed to address how the City would partner with the community and coordinate with County, State and Federal agencies in recovering from the effects of disaster using a massive earthquake as the premise.
Training and Exercise Plan
The purpose of the City of Seattle Emergency Management Program Training and Exercise Plan is to define the City of Seattle Emergency Management Program's training and exercise priorities for 2023 through 2025. Rationale for the priorities is based on existing strategic guidance, threat assessments, regulations/requirements, and from corrective actions of previous exercises and real-world events. This plan identifies specific trainings and exercises that align with program priorities and strategic goals. Included in this plan is a training and exercise schedule of proposed activities for 2023 through 2025.
Each City Department creates emergency plans to support the missions they are required to carry out under the City Charter and in the Seattle Disaster Readiness and Response Plan (SDRRP). These plans are coordinated with the SDRRP, other department plans, and regional plans as needed. To find out more about specific plans for City Departments click the links below.
Seattle City Light
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For information regarding City Light Plans contact Brittany Barnwell at brittany.barnwell@seattle.gov
Seattle Department of Transportation
While Seattle is the largest City within King County, the effectiveness of any plan relies on it fitting seamlessly within the larger plan. To this end, the Office of Emergency Management actively coordinates its planning efforts with King County. The following links provide information on County plans.
King County recently kicked off a county-wide, two-year planning process for crafting a comprehensive long-term recovery strategy following a major earthquake or other catastrophe, To learn more click here.
King County supports a number of programs and plans. To learn more about them click here.
Public Health Seattle King County - To learn more about Public Health preparedness plans click here.
Regional Catastrophic Plan
State and local emergency management agencies have the responsibility to identify hazards to their communities and prepare plans for managing hazardous incidents when and as they occur. The Puget Sound Catastrophic Disaster Coordination Plan (Coordination Plan) assists local, State, Federal, and private sector partners in coordinating their planning, response to and recovery from regional catastrophic incidents and disasters. The coordination plan is voluntary and available to all public, private, Tribal and non-profit entities in the 8-county Puget Sound Region encompassing (approximately from north to south) Island, Skagit, Snohomish, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Thurston and Mason counties.
The coordination plan provides an all-hazards framework for coordination among local, state, tribal and federal entities prior to, during, and following a catastrophic incident in the Puget Sound area. The coordination plan and its annexes were developed to help local, state, tribal, federal, and private sector partners coordinate their planning for, response to and recovery from regional catastrophic incidents. The coordination plan and its annexes do not usurp or infringe on the authorities, plans, or procedures of any participating jurisdiction, agency, or organization. All necessary decisions affecting response, recovery, protective actions, public health and safety advisories, etc., are made by responsible officials under their existing authorities, policies, plans, and procedures.
State of Washington
The Washington State Military Department is charged with the responsibility of developing, maintaining and administering a comprehensive statewide program of emergency management to ensure the state is adequately prepared to respond to and recover from disasters and emergencies. They have a number of plans that address this responsibility. To learn more about them click here
All disasters start locally, but major events often require the assistance of the federal government. After the terrorist attacks on September 11 the federal government enacted several initiatives to improve the way that the country plans for and responds to large scale disasters. The following links provide information that sets the standard for how states, regions, and local municipalities structure and implement their emergency planning efforts.
Federal Emergency Management Agency National Planning Frameworks
Plan Updates and Revisions
Come here to get information on which City plans are currently being updated, learn about the update or revision process, and find out how you can stay informed and get involved.
Current Plan Updates:
The All-Hazards Mitigation Plan (HMP) Update (2027-2032)
This is your main online resource to learn more about the All-Hazards Mitigation Plan (HMP) update and how you can provide your feedback.
See below to get started.
Take our survey!
The City is updating its All-Hazards Mitigation Plan (HMP), and your input is essential. Take the survey to help identify local risks, reduce future hazards, and build a safer, more resilient community!
Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6BPHYCW
Survey closes October 5!
All-Hazard Mitigation Plan Update 2020-21
HMP Update Overview
What is Hazard Mitigation?
Hazard mitigation is any action taken to reduce risks to people, property, infrastructure, and the environment caused by natural and man-made hazards such as earthquakes, flooding, winter storms, or tsunamis.
Hazard mitigation planning provides the blueprint for strategic hazard mitigation to reduce risk and vulnerability before disaster strikes. The All-Hazards Mitigation Plan first identifies the natural disaster risks and vulnerabilities that have the potential to impact our neighborhoods. It then considers these risks and city capabilities to create a comprehensive plan that includes actions to reduce risk to people, property and environment from natural and other disasters, such as earthquakes, power outages, floods, landslides and more.
Investing before disasters happen pays off. Since 1995, federal grants and public-sector investments have provided $27 billion to help communities reduce risk before disaster strike. Those investments are expected to save $160 billion in future losses – about $6 saved for every $1 invested. (Mitigation Saves Report)
Why do we need to update the HMP?
Maintaining an updated HMP is an important piece of Seattle’s resilience efforts. By regularly updating the HMP, the City continues to re-evaluate its risk, especially considering changes due to increased development, changes in land use, and climate change considerations. It also reviews its current capabilities to mitigate risks as well as mitigation progress since the previous plan and reassess mitigation priorities.
The HMP is also required to be updated every five years to maintain compliance with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) requirements. Meeting these requirements maintains the city’s eligibility for important Hazard Mitigation grant funding programs like FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). The year, an important component of the 2026 HMP update is its focus on integrating climate change considerations into the City’s strategic hazard mitigation planning efforts.
How is hazard mitigation different from emergency preparedness?
Why Mitigation matters
A strategic hazard mitigation plan with implementable hazard mitigation strategies will lead to projects that happen directly in your neighborhood. Seattle OEM has received about $8M in FEMA hazard mitigation grants since 2022 to fund projects and planning that reduce natural hazard risks in the city. Below are a few examples of projects that have been implemented because of HMP planning:
- Cool and Clear Air in Libraries: In 2024, Seattle OEM, in collaboration with Seattle Public Libraries, received mitigation grant funding to outfit five local branches with air conditioning and modern ventilation systems. These sites will serve as cooling centers during times of extreme heat and wildfire smoke.
- Apartment Seismic Retrofit: In 2023, Seattle OEM partnered with Capitol Hill Housing, a local nonprofit housing provider, to protect the Bremer Apartments building against earthquake damage with the help of FEMA mitigation grant funding.
- Climate Ready: Many natural hazards addressed in the HMP also help us become more resilient and prepared for climate impacts – which threaten to make natural hazards more severe and frequent.
HMP Update Timeline
What is the timeline for the Update?
The HMP Update needs to be completed in 2021. A technical analysis of known hazards, the Seattle Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Analysis (SHIVA), was updated in 2019. Staff from various departments are working together to review the existing HMP, capitol programs and other departmental plans.
Sign up for the Office of Emergency Management Monthly Newsletter to stay up to date along the way!