Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment

The Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) process helps communities strategically analyze threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk to national security. By identifying and prioritizing those threats through the THIRA process, a community can then make informed decisions in regards to the National Preparedness Goal. 

The National Preparedness Goal identifies five distinct mission areas:

  • Prevention
  • Protection
  • Mitigation
  • Response
  • Recovery

By considering changes to the threat environment, a community can understand how to best manage and plan for its greatest risks across the full range of its the threats and hazards.

THIRA Overview

The Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) is a three-step risk assessment process that helps communities answer the following questions:

  • What threats and hazards can affect our community?
  • If they occurred, what impacts would those threats and hazards have on our community?
  • Based on those impacts, what capabilities should our community have?

The outputs that form this process lay the foundation for determining a community's capability gaps as part of the Stakeholder Preparedness Review.

Stakeholder Preparedness Report

The Stakeholder Preparedness Review (SPR) is a self-assessment of a jurisdiction’s current capability levels against the targets identified in the THIRA.

The SPR aids jurisdictions in identifying preparedness capability gaps and sustainment requirements, in addition to outlining intended approaches for addressing gaps and sustainment requirements.

Using the targets from the THIRA, jurisdictions identify their current capability and how that capability changed over the last year, including capabilities lost, sustained, and built. Jurisdictions also identify capability gaps related to:

  • Planning
  • Organization
  • Equipment
  • Training
  • Exercises

The outputs of this process inform a variety of emergency management efforts, including: emergency operations planning, mutual aid agreements, hazard mitigation planning, grant investment strategies, and training and exercise efforts.