Emergency managers and clerks of small counties, towns, districts and tribes

Which jurisdiction is the plan for?

Draft an emergency operations plan and continuity plan for a small county, town, district or tribe, in FEMA's CPG 101 structure. Free to read.

Free to read
No sign-up until the draft
Every fact cites its source

ePlan fills in

Population
Top hazards
Critical facilities
Hospitals and fire stations
Flood zones

How it works

Emergency operations plan, from one answer

Name the jurisdiction and pick the plans you need.One answer starts the project. ePlan names it and looks up the place.
ePlan pulls hazards, facilities and population into the CPG 101 structure.3 more questions, each with a "not sure yet" way out.
Read the draft free, then download it for review and adoption.The draft marks what to check (amber), what to pick (blue) and what to fill in (violet).

What you get

Emergency operations plan and 3 more documents

The first draft is free to read. Each document after it is drafted from the same confirmed facts.

The first draft

Emergency operations plan (base plan and annexes)

Introductory material and promulgation
Purpose, scope, situation overview and planning assumptions
Concept of operations
Organization and assignment of responsibilities
Direction, control and coordination
Information collection, analysis and dissemination

Modeled on: FEMA CPG 101, Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans (Version 3.1, May 2025)

Next · 2

Continuity of operations plan (COOP)

Essential functions
Orders of succession and delegations of authority
Continuity facilities
Continuity communications
Essential records
Reconstitution

Modeled on: FEMA Continuity Plan Template and Instructions for Non-Federal Entities and Community-Based Organizations (April 2022)

Next · 3

Debris management annex

Debris types and estimates
Collection and staging sites
Contracts and monitoring
Cost records

Next · 4

Hazard mitigation plan update

Planning process
Risk assessment
Mitigation actions
Plan maintenance

From public data

What ePlan fills in, and from where

Hazard risk by countyFEMA National Risk Index (now served in the Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool)
Hospitals, fire stations, schoolsHIFLD open data
Population, age, language and disabilityCensus American Community Survey
Flood zonesFEMA National Flood Hazard Layer
Past storm eventsNOAA Storm Events Database

50%

is the most the federal Emergency Management Performance Grant can pay toward an activity that helps state, local and tribal governments prepare for all hazards
Source: 6 U.S.C. 762(c)

Questions

Emergency operations plan: what people ask

What format should a local emergency operations plan follow?

FEMA's CPG 101 is the federal guide. It describes a base plan (purpose and scope, situation and assumptions, concept of operations, responsibilities, direction and control, communications, administration and finance, maintenance, authorities) plus functional and hazard-specific annexes. Version 3.1 was published in May 2025.

Source: fema.gov

How often should the plan be updated?

CPG 101 doesn't set one interval. Some jurisdictions revise parts monthly, others review annually. It says to review after a major incident, major exercises, changes in resources, officials, laws or hazards, and each time the plan is used. Your state may set its own schedule.

Source: fema.gov

Is there a template for a continuity of operations plan?

Yes. FEMA publishes a free Continuity Plan Template and Instructions for Non-Federal Entities and Community-Based Organizations (April 2022) as a Word file. ePlan fills that structure with your departments, essential functions and lines of succession.

Source: fema.gov