Hazard Mitigation &
Community Resilience Plan

Talbot County, Maryland

Talbot County's 2022 Hazard Mitigation & Community Resilience Plan serves as a roadmap to evaluating hazards, identifying resources and capabilities, selecting appropriate actions, and implementing mitigation measures to eliminate or reduce future damage from those hazards.

Hazard Mitigation is sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to life and property from hazards. Resilience is the capacity of individuals, communities, businesses, institutions, and governments to adapt to changing conditions and to prepare for, withstand, and rapidly recover from disruptions to everyday life, such as hazard events. Through the update of the Talbot County Hazard Mitigation and Community Resilience Plan, Talbot County is poised to advance mitigation and resilience efforts via policy, planning, and action.

Talbot County works to advance mitigation and resilience efforts via their "Five Pillars." These pillars help guide the hazard mitigation process and establish the foundation of mitigation and resiliency planning and implementation. The Five Pillars include:

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires hazard mitigation plans to be updated every five years. This is an update to the previous 2017 Hazard Mitigation & Community Resilience Plan. Talbot County's Department of Emergency Services is the lead agency for this plan effort.

Coastal Hazards

Coastal hazards take many forms ranging from storm systems like tropical storms, hurricanes and Nor’easters that can cause storm surge inundation, heavy precipitation that may lead to flash flooding, and exacerbation of shoreline erosion to long-term hazards such as sea level rise. Therefore, coastal hazards are to include, if applicable, coastal storms, storm surge, hurricane, tropical storm, Nor’easter, sea level rise and shoreline erosion.

Photo Credit: Chris Polk. Flooding in Queen Anne caused by Hurricane Isabel.

Strategies to mitigate or reduce specific hazard risks are developed during the hazard mitigation plan update process and may vary from very simple to complex. Typically hazard mitigation strategies are classified into six broad categories. Below are the six (6) categories used for hazard prevention and adaptation.

Prevention

Government administrative or regulatory actions or processes that influence the way land and buildings are developed and built. These actions also include public activities to reduce hazard losses. Examples include planning and zoning, building codes, capital improvement programs, open space preservation, and storm water management regulations.

Natural Resource Protection

Actions that, in addition to minimizing hazard lossesalso preserve or restore the functions of natural protection systems. These actionsinclude sediment and erosion control, stream corridor restoration, watershedmanagement, forest and vegetation management, and wetland restoration preservation.

Property Protection

Actions that involve the modification of existing critical andpublic facilities, buildings, structures, and public infrastructure to protect them fromhazards. Examples include acquisition, elevation, relocation, structural retrofits, stormshutters, and infrastructure modification.

Emergency Services

Actions that protect people and property during andimmediately after a disaster or hazard event. Services include warning systems andemergency response services.

Public Education & Awareness

Actions to inform and educate citizens, electedofficials, and property owners about potential ways to mitigate for hazards that canoccur in the County. Such actions include outreach programs, projects, real estatedisclosure, hazard information centers, and school-age and adult education programs.

Structural Projects

Actions that involve the construction of structures to reduce theimpact of a hazard event. Such structures include dams, levees, floodwalls, seawalls,retaining walls, barrier islands, and safe rooms.

Hazard mitigation action items are the answer to the "so what?" question in hazard mitigation. The purpose of hazard mitigation action items is to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from hazards and their effects. They provide local governments clear steps to achieve their mitigation goals.

As part of the 2022 Plan Update, existing action items were reviewed and new action items were developed. Action Items are developed based on conclusions drawn from the hazard mitigation plan, stakeholder feedback, public input, and various related planning documents. The action items included in Talbot County's 2017 Hazard Mitigation & Community Resilience Plan were reviewed by stakeholders to determine their status within the last 5-year planning cycle (2017-2021). The full results of that review are contained in Appendix B: Mitigation Action Items Status Report of this Plan Update. You can view this Appendix by selecting the link below.

Contact Us

Your input is welcomed and valued. Please consider becoming a project stakeholder. Stakeholder meetings are held online using Webex. Provide your information to the right to get involved.

Talbot Countyprovides an abundance of resources related to natural hazards and emergency preparedness topics, such as:

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CITIZEN ALERT SYSTEM
Get alerted about emergencies and other important community news by signing up for the Emergency Alert Program.

COMMUNITY SIREN ALERTING
Descriptions of the community alert siren system, including what each siren indicates.

EMERGENCY PLANNING & PREPAREDNESS
Gain access to information on a wide variety of emergency preparedness topics.​

FLOOD INFORMATION
Important flood related information including flood safety, NFIP Community Rating System, flood insurance discounts, and more.

EMERGENCY HOUSING RESOURCES
In need of emergency shelter due to natural disaster? Check out these resources.​

CLEANER, GREENER TALBOT: A PLAN FOR FUTURE LIVABILITY
Talbot County has updated their 2004 Green Infrastructure plan with the 2021 plan, "Cleaner, Greener Talbot." Click the link above to visit the project's website.

Know Your Flood Risk

To determine if your property is at risk, please visit Talbot County's Department of Planning and Zoning:

215 Bay Street, Suite 2
Easton, Maryland 21601
Phone : (410) 770--8030

Fax: (410) 770--8043

Click the buttons below for more information.

If individual assistance is needed, please contact:

Greg Allis, Floodplain Coordinator

Phone: (410) 770--803

Email:gallis@talbotcountymd.gov

For additional information and resources, visit Talbot County's Planning and Zoning Floodplain Management Ordinance website here.

Know your property’s flood risk. To find your community’s flood map, visit the Flood Risk Application and search using your property’s address.

What to do Before a Flood

Take steps to protect your home, family, and financial security throughout the year, and take extra precautions when flooding is predicted in your area.

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The best way to protect your home and belongings from flood damage is to purchase flood insurance – don’t let your hard work be washed away.

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Here are a few steps you and your family can take to be ready for flooding:

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Get flood insurance.

Know your flood risk.

Take a household inventory.

Store important documents.

Additional Ways to Protect Your Home

Protecting Manufactured Homes from Floods and Other Hazards (link)

Resources for policyholders living in manufactured (mobile) home

Protecting Building Utilities from Flood Damage (link)

Information on protecting critical utilities, like water heaters and HVAC systems, from flood damage.​

Reducing Flood Risk to Residential Buildings that Cannot be Elevated (link)

Mitigation options for homes that cannot be elevated.