Emergency Management Planning

Welcome to the Tennessee Emergency Management Planning Page

The Planning Branch is a critical component of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), focused primarily on emergency operations planning, hazard mitigation planning, and continuity of operations planning. These statewide efforts set the foundation for understanding how Tennessee prepares for significant threats and hazards takes action to protect and mitigate catastrophic impacts, defines emergency response and recovery roles and responsibilities, and provides contingency planning for essential functions.   

Primary responsibilities for the Planning Branch include maintenance and updates for The Tennessee Emergency Management Plan (TEMP), authorized in Tenn. Code Ann.58-2-106(b)(1).  The TEMP serves as the centralized guide for establishing the State of Tennessee's emergency coordination framework, structure, and roles for a comprehensive emergency management program. The Planning Branch provides guidance and structure for each Tennessee county to complete their own Basic Emergency Operations Plan (BEOP), as authorized under Tenn. Code Ann. 58-2-106(b)(2-4).  The purpose of the BEOP is to address how the agencies and organizations within an EMA's partnership network will work together to support their community's needs during an emergency event. The plan identifies who can do what capabilities by assigning emergency support functions, roles, and responsibilities.

The Planning Branch is responsible for the State Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP), the primary document detailing the state's mitigation strategy targeting all natural hazards adversely affecting its citizens and their property. The state'smitigation actions and projects directly correspond to its mitigation objectives and focus on the most significant hazards established in the plan's risk assessment. TEMA develops this plan in coordination with state, federal, and local government agencies under the authority in Tenn. Code Ann. 58-2-101 through 58-2-124, under which TEMA is charged with overseeing the development of a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved standard state hazard mitigation plan. TEMA also assists Tennessee counties in developing local hazard mitigation plans as the foundation for each community jurisdiction to actively guide risk reduction investments that build community resilience to future natural hazard events.

In addition to emergency operations planning and hazard mitigation planning, TEMA engages in continuity of operations planning (COOP) on a statewide level. COOPs are implemented at all cabinet-level state agencies to provide a contingency framework to ensure essential functions and services remain available to serve the needs of Tennesseans under a wide variety of threat and hazard impacts. TEMA's Planning Branch provides guidance and support for developing these plans and maintaining COOPs for many state-level essential functions. 

TEMA's Planning Branch maintains the capability to provide location intelligence products based on geospatial mapping and visualization technologies for decision support, threat and hazard modeling, and situational awareness. These capabilities benefit state and local emergency management partners and stakeholders and support real-time operational planning, consequence management, resource support, and a common operating picture for steady-state and disaster-state operations.         

Click Here for Larger View in New Tab

Click Here to View the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Status

Program Contacts:

Trip Voss | Planning Branch Administrator                                                                         john.voss@tn.gov

Kimberly Anthony | Regional Planning Manager                                                           kim.anthony@tn.gov                               

Elizabeth Donovan | State Planning Manager                                                                 elizabeth.donovan@tn.gov                                                                            

Zane Kennedy | All-Hazards Planning Specialist                                                             zane.kennedy@tn.gov

| Hazard Mitigation Planning Specialist   

Andy Isbell | West Region Planner                                                                                      thomas.isbell@tn.gov                                                                           

Robert Perkins | Middle Region Planner                                                                          robert.perkins@tn.gov

| East Region Planner                                                                                

Keith Greenhalgh | Southeast Region Planner                                                             keith.greenhalgh@tn.gov