Countywide Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan Open for Comment

Plan Outlines how Cowlitz County Prepares to Avoid Loss of Life, Property

A planning team comprised of representatives from throughout Cowlitz County and several incorporated jurisdictions has reviewed and updated an existing multi-hazard mitigation plan that addresses the natural hazards that pose the greatest risk to residents and critical infrastructure. A final draft of the 2011 Cowlitz County Hazard Mitigation Plan is now available for review and comment.

A coordinated planning effort for hazard mitigation was conducted for Cowlitz County jurisdictions in accordance with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA2K). The Act requires all local, county, tribal and state governments to have an approved Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hazard mitigation plan in order to be eligible for federal disaster mitigation grant funding. The plan focuses on the most threatening natural hazards throughout Cowlitz County and provides a strategy to reduce or eliminate the risk to people and property from those hazards.

Mitigation is not responding to emergencies like floods and wildfires, but rather is a jurisdiction’s strategy for preventing or significantly reducing the impact of such hazards prior to their occurrence. The mitigation planning process involves identifying and profiling natural hazards that will most likely occur in a community, as well as assessing the vulnerability of critical community facilities and structures. The plan will also help community leaders to evaluate risk hazards to our population and establish goals, actions and projects that help mitigate the associated risks.

Public input on the final draft of the plan is important, and residents are highly encouraged to review the plan and offer comments for the next few weeks. The formal comment period will close on June 10, 2011. To view the draft plan or provide comments, please visit the Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management website at: www.co.cowlitz.wa.us/dem/. The draft plan will be available for review at the Department of Emergency Management office in Kelso or at the public libraries in Castle Rock, Longview, Kelso and Woodland by May 20th.