TheThreat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA)is the foundational capability for all mitigation efforts. According toFEMA's Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 201, a community cannot mitigate a risk that it has not first identified and quantified. Threat and hazard identification involves a systematic three-step process: identifying the threats and hazards of concern, giving the threats and hazards context (describing how they would affect the community), and establishing capability targets based on those impacts.
Mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters. To decide where to build a levee, where to retrofit buildings for seismic safety, or where to clear brush for wildfire prevention, planners must have high-quality data from theHazard Identificationphase. This includes historical data, geographic mapping (GIS), and predictive modeling. For example, a community's "mitigation need" for a flood wall is entirely dependent on the "Hazard Identification" of the 100-year and 500-year floodplains.
WhileMulti-hazard planning(Option C) is the framework used to organize these efforts andCommunity resilience(Option B) is the desired end-state, neither can exist without the underlying data provided by threat identification. In theCEDPcurriculum, this reflects the "Intelligence" function of emergency management. By knowing the "What, Where, and How Likely" of local hazards, emergency managers can conduct aGap Analysisto see where the community's current defenses are insufficient. This allows for a "risk-informed" allocation of resources, ensuring that mitigation projects are not just "good ideas," but are scientifically validated interventions designed to address the most significant threats to the community's safety and economic stability.