Holmes County Hazard Mitigation Plan
Holmes County Hazard Mitigation Plan Public Comment Period
The Holmes County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) is inviting residents, businesses, municipalities, townships, and community partners to review and provide comments on the proposed Holmes County Hazard Mitigation Plan.
The public comment period will run from March 6, 2026 through March 20, 2026.
Hazard mitigation planning helps communities identify natural hazards such as flooding, severe storms, winter weather, and other risks that could impact Holmes County. The plan outlines strategies and projects designed to reduce risk, protect lives and property, and improve community resilience before disasters occur. There is a long list of strategies. These strategies are a “wish list” and not mandatory.
Maintaining an approved Hazard Mitigation Plan also ensures the county remains eligible for certain federal mitigation grant funding through FEMA.
The draft plan is available for public review:
• Online: Holmes County EMA website – www.holmescountyema.org
• In Person: Holmes County EMA Office, 2 Court Street, Millersburg, OH
Public input is an important part of the planning process. Community feedback helps ensure the plan reflects the needs, concerns, and priorities of Holmes County residents.
Comments may be submitted during the public comment period to:
Jason Troyer
Holmes County EMA Director
Email: jtroyer@co.holmes.oh.us
Welcome to Holmes County EMA
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Wireless Emergency Notification System
Holmes County EMA utilizes WENS to send emergency notifications to your affected area. WENS is a free subscription-based program that sends Holmes County Ohio emergency alerts.
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LEPC
Local Emergency Planning Committee
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HCEMA Partners
Holmes County EMA Partners
Ohio State Highway Patrol Electronic Bike Safety Video
Introduction
The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires local governments to develop and update a hazard mitigation plan every five (5) years in order to be eligible for certain types of federal hazard mitigation grant funding.
The development of the Holmes County Hazard Mitigation Plan began back in 2007 and involved the participation of numerous local agencies and various subject-matter experts. The Holmes County Hazard Mitigation Plan was approved by FEMA in 2007 and was updated and re-approved in 2014 to meet the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000.
Natural hazards have the potential to cause loss of life, property losses, economic hardships, and threats to public safety. While natural disasters cannot be prevented from occurring, implementing mitigation strategies can reduce the long-term risk to life and property and make Holmes County a more disaster-resilient community. By implementing hazard mitigation actions, Holmes County is striving to break the disaster cycle of damage, reconstruction, and repeat damage.
The first step in the planning process for developing the Holmes County Hazard Mitigation Plan was to determine the overall risk to the county with regard to hazard vulnerability. Once the hazards were identified, the vulnerability to those hazards was assessed. The 2019-2020 plan update utilized data from multiple sources to evaluate risk, including historical damage data, input from subject-matter experts, and information from HAZUS. The 2019-2020 revision of the plan details Holmes County’s highest-priority hazards to include: flooding, winter storms, drought, landslides, and tornado/wind events.
The next step in the planning process was to develop a blueprint of actions that will mitigate the risk to the identified hazards. The plan details a list of mitigation goals, objectives, and related actions that can assist Holmes County in reducing risk and preventing loss from future natural hazard events.
HCEMA Mission: Holmes County Emergency Management Agency's mission is to coordinate services to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. We carry this mission out by closely interfacing with local and state agencies to bring resources of recovery and support to Holmes County.