Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Communications

Preparedness: planning, training and educational activities for events that cannot be mitigated. This includes disaster communication plans, earthquake drills, and having household emergency kits.

Response: the immediate aftermath of a disaster when businesses and other operations do not function normally, and personal safety and well-being is impacted. Disaster response efforts include search and rescue missions and implementation of disaster response plans.

Recovery: restoration efforts, like rebuilding impacted infrastructure, occur along with regular operations and activities, possibly over an extended period of time.

CITY OF LONG BEACH NATURAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN

The City of Long Beach’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan identifies hazards that pose a risk to the community and actions City agencies are taking to reduce the impacts of these hazards. The plan is required by the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 to be updated every five years.

The 2023 plan was updated by the Department of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications in partnership with a number of City departments and partners including:

• Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications
• Long Beach Airport
• Port of Long Beach
• Long Beach Police Department
• Long Beach Fire Department
• Community Development 
• Parks, Recreation and Marine
• Public Works
• Water Department
• Health and Human Services
• Energy Resources
• Human Resources
• Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management
• California State University, Long Beach

2023 NATURAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN GOALS

The five goals of the 2023 Hazard Mitigation Plan include:

1. Protect public health and safety
2. Invest in property and protection
3. Promote policies that embrace mitigation
4. Create a healthy and equitable environment
5. Ensure equitable and inclusive mitigation measures

2023 PROFILED NATURAL HAZARDS

Based on findings from the Hazard Analysis and direction from the Hazard Mitigation Steering Committee, the top threats to the City of Long Beach, in no particular order, are:

• Earthquake: Long Beach is especially susceptible to earthquakes due to its proximity to multiple faults, which are zones of weakness in the earth’s crust.
• Tsunami: With nearly 9 miles of coastline, Long Beach is a potential target for tsunamis, or high-energy waves triggered by earthquakes, landslides or submarine volcanic explosions.
• Flood: During a major rainstorm, some areas of Long Beach run the threat of flooding.
• Dam Failure: Partial or full failure of dams has the potential to cause massive destruction, and is usually caused by prolonged periods of rainfall, sabotage
• Climate Change/Sea-Level Rise: Climate Change refers to alterations in the long-term patterns of temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, and seasons that play a fundamental role in shaping natural ecosystems and the human economies and cultures that depend on them.
• Severe Weather: Severe Weather includes Extreme Heat, Fog, High Winds, and Thunderstorms.