Mitigation is defined by FEMA as "the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters."
Duval County maintains a
Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Plan aimed at defining the hazards that threaten the community and identifying measures to reduce the impacts of those hazards. To download the current version of the Duval County Local Mitigation Strategy, p
lease follow this hyperlink. For more information on the LMS,
please follow this hyperlink.
The City wants to hear from you! Have you been impacted by a disaster? What hazards are you most concerned about? A link to a brief survey is provided below. Your feedback will help the City prepare for and protect from hazards. Participation in this survey is voluntary and any response will remain confidential.
Public Opinion Survey on Mitigation
Click this hyperlink:
bit.ly/mitigationpublicsurvey
Encuesta de Opinión Pública sobre Mitigación
Haga clic en este hipervínculo:
bit.ly/encuestamitigacion
Mitigation activities include:
- Wind proofing critical buildings
- Elevating or purchasing flood prone homes and businesses
- Locating residential and commercial development outside flood zones
- Creating wildfire buffers around development in vulnerable areas
Other Mitigation Initiatives:
To learn more about flooding and the National Flood Insurance Program click
here.
The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) determined in a 2019 Report that every $1 invested in disaster mitigation by federal agencies saves society $6.
Ongoing Projects - Ken Knight Drive Acquisition
The City of Jacksonville is working with community partners to explore interest in acquisition of flood-prone properties along the Ribault River. This project is part of a
long-term goal to help members of the community who have experienced flooding move to a
safe area on high ground that does not flood.
This is an
Acquisition and Demolition project
, which means that the City would buy the property from the homeowner and demolish the structure to return it to open space. Once a property is acquired, the City deed restricts the land as open space and nothing can be built there again. Moving to an area on high ground that does not flood is the
safest option.
This project would use grant money from FEMA to help pay for the purchase. This is a
100% voluntary program; no one is required to participate if they do not want to.
For those that own a home, if you do choose to sell your home, the process is very similar to selling on the market, except that the
grant will pay for the appraisal, property inspections, surveys, and all closing costs. The only expenses you would need to pay are those required by law, such as the property tax due up until the day of the sale.
The grant pays for an appraisal to determine the
fair market value of the property, which is what we can offer to pay through the grant. The City will also work with you to find another home that is on high ground and will not flood.
For those who are renting,
if the landlord does decide to sell, the grant may provide financial assistance to you to find another safe place to live. The financial assistance covers increased rent and utility costs as well as moving expenses. If you prefer, the rental assistance payment can also be used to make a
down payment on another property.
If you are interested in more information regarding this project, please contact Noah Ray at (904) 255-3117 or by email at nray@coj.net for more information.
For those interested in participating in this project and selling your property, please see the following packet of forms to review the type of information that will be collected during the application process:
Please click this link to download the project forms.