Draft Plan Available for Review
The Draft 2026 ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ Hazard Mitigation Plan assesses the natural, human-caused, and technological hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities inherent to ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ. The draft plan, a planned special district addendum to the 2022 Hampton Roads Hazard Mitigation Plan, was developed by the University Advisory Board for Hazard Mitigation in collaboration with Salter’s Creek Consulting, Inc. The plan identifies and prioritizes mitigation strategies for protecting people and property from potential harm or loss.
This plan is currently open for public comment. Please email Jared Hoernig, ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ Director of Emergency Management, at jhoernig@odu.edu with any comments or questions related to the draft plan.
Open House
The ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ Hazard Mitigation Plan Open House will be held Tuesday, April 21 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. in Webb Center’s North Mall on the main campus. Please stop by. You can learn more about the planning process, take a look at the mitigation actions the University anticipates for the next five years, and provide us your feedback.
The Draft ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ Hazard Mitigation Plan Addendum to the regional plan can be downloaded here.
View Open House event information.
Project Background
Purpose and Need
Since 2007, ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ Emergency Management has sought opportunities and funding to update the university’s existing hazard mitigation plan in order to attain eligibility for various grant programs and to carefully develop and prioritize mitigation activities on campus. Simultaneously, ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ has expanded its footprint in Hampton Roads with campuses in Suffolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Hampton, and the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) in Norfolk. ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ recognizes that the need is urgent for an up-to-date hazard mitigation plan that outlines a mitigation strategy tailored to the university’s vulnerabilities across all campuses, and identified the Special District addendum to the regional plan as a way to cost effectively fulfill this need in accordance with FEMA guidance.
Scope
ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ Emergency Management has contracted with Salter’s Creek Consulting, Inc. to execute an abbreviated mitigation planning process and develop a brief written addendum to the 2022 Hampton Roads Hazard Mitigation Plan. The addendum will reference existing vulnerability assessments and highlight where ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ vulnerabilities may differ from the overall region. The addendum to the Hampton Roads plan will include summary information on all phases of the planning process, and focus on the prioritized mitigation strategies to be appended to the region’s plan. The addendum is expected to be reviewed by VDEM and FEMA prior to the ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ Board of Visitors adoption.
Project Schedule
The project began in September 2025 and is expected to take approximately nine (9) months to complete. Keeping to this timeline will allow ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ to maintain their regular required emergency operations planning cadence as required by the Code of Virginia, including adding new hazard mitigation content into their 2026 Crisis and Emergency Management Plan, which will go in front of the ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ Board of Visitors for quadrennial adoption in late 2026. The first phase of the process involved a committee meeting to review components of the regional plan (October), and a workshop to formulate mitigation actions for the future (November). The second phase now underway involves obtaining feedback on the mitigation actions from various stakeholders and State and Federal reviewers.
Helpful Links
How to Participate and Provide Input
Reach out to Jared Hoernig, Director, ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ Emergency Management, who will add your name to the appropriate notification list. Mr. Hoernig can be reached by telephone at 757-683-5116, or by email at