Planning for the occurrence of a natural, human-made, or technological event within the community is one of the most basic elements of an emergency management program. Disaster planning includes conducting risk, threat, hazard, and vulnerability assessments within a local community and creating a system of mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery from the occurrence of an emergency or a disaster. Local disaster planning varies widely among jurisdiction, depending upon a number of factors that include the history of the community, its culture, risks, traditions, resources, and leadership. However, most planning for an emergency or disaster consists of a continuum of planning, training, exercising, and plan revision that occurs throughout the disaster life cycle of preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.

The disaster planning process consists of four steps: ...