Darrin Punchard
Darrin Punchard is a certified planner and floodplain manager who has spent his entire career working with local communities to become more resilient to disaster. He has more than 15 years of applied experience in hazard mitigation with particular expertise in geographic information system-based risk assessment, land use planning, benefit-cost analysis, and the development of actionable mitigation strategies to include structural and non-structural measures for risk reduction.
Since 2001, Punchard has served as a consultant to federal, state, regional, tribal, and local government agencies across the United States to assess and reduce their jurisdiction's vulnerability to natural and technological hazards. He was responsible for preparing some of the nation’s first Federal Emergency Management Agency-approved local hazard mitigation plans and has assisted more than 500 communities gain compliance with federal regulations authorized by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000.
Punchard’s public service career includes serving as the North Carolina state hazard mitigation officer. His career began in Florida where he worked as a local hazard mitigation planner for Alachua County and then, later, as a state mitigation planner for the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Punchard currently serves on the board of directors for the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association and serves as co-chair of NHMA’s Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee. He also serves as an advisory member for the American Planning Association’s Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning Interest Group.
