County begins hazard mitigation update
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POLSON – In an effort to keep citizens safe, Lake County emergency officials and their counterparts from a variety of agencies kicked off a series of meetings on Nov. 7 in an effort to update the county’s hazard mitigation plan.
A proactive hazard mitigation plan is a publicly guided document. It allows a community to identify vulnerabilities and take actions to reduce loss or eliminate threats from natural and man-made disasters such as wildfires, floods, earthquakes, severe weather, transportation incidents, utility disruption, communications failure, terrorism and dam failure. The plan is used to set goals, establish mitigation alternatives and prioritize projects.
Lake County’s current Hazard Mitigation Plan was originally approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency back in 2012. Hazard Mitigation Plans are a requirement of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, administered by FEMA, and they must be updated every five years.
Tetra Tech of Helena has been contracted by the county to lead the update. Daphne Digrindakis, a consultant with Tetra Tech, said having an updated and approved hazard mitigation plan makes communities eligible for federal disaster assistance and grants to cover disaster preparedness costs.
The planning process is expected to take until early spring when officials expect to review the final draft of the plan.
The next meeting on the hazard mitigation plan update is scheduled for Nov. 29. Officials are expected to discuss research on hazards Lake County has been susceptible to in the past and rank the threats discussed in the order of likelihood of occurrence.
Public input will be gathered during plan development through online tools and public meetings. For more information on this planning effort, please contact Steve Stanley, Emergency Management Coordinator, at lakeoem@lakemt.gov or 406-883-7253.
