The New York City Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has announced a significant enhancement in the city's approach to natural disasters, thanks to a newly approved plan by FEMA.

The announcement gives the green light for the city’s 2024 Hazard Mitigation Plan, which identifies the natural hazard risks and weaknesses common to New York City.

“This report is important because it makes us eligible for FEMA mitigation grants. The city has received over $600 million in grants since [Superstorm] Sandy,” said Ahmad Shaibani, planning program manager at NYC OEM.

The approval is timely as the city faces extreme heat and coastal storms during the summer. It's also hurricane season, which runs from June through October. With the plan now approved, the city can apply for more grants to help mitigate these risks.

“Every area in NYC has its own unique challenges. We can look at the east shore of Staten Island with its specific risks to coastal storms and flooding, or we can look at neighborhoods like East Harlem,” Shaibani explained.

The goal of the plan is to enable proactive recovery from extreme weather events, adapt to climate change and improve infrastructure and preparedness strategies. The OEM says the plan, which will be updated regularly, includes strategies to deal with nine different hazards, such as floods and severe storms.

“You can actually view a lot of these actions that are taking place in the city in the mitigation action database where we have a map where you can select the different projects you’re interested in looking into. This report lives at www.nychazardmitigationplan.com and there’s a link of resources for community members,” Shaibani stated.