Do-it-yourself approach to Hazard Mitigation Plan for Winneshiek County could save thousands of dollars

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires all counties in the US to file a Hazard Mitigation Plan once every five years.  The plans identify risks associated with natural disasters such as flooding, tornadoes and storms.  The process is aimed at encouraging actions to reduce loss of life and property, lessening the impact of disasters.

But despite the impact of natural disasters in Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico last year, FEMA has reduced its grant funding of such planning to a maximum of $30,000--and grants are available only when counties join together to do their mitigation plans.

Winneshiek County Emergency Management Coordinator Sean Snyder on Monday told county supervisors he'd like to try to write the local Hazard Mitigation Plan by himself in 2020.  That desire is conditioned on being able to get an editable copy of the 2015 Winneshiek County Hazard Mitigation Plan, which was done by Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission--at a cost of $45,000 to the county.

Snyder says most of the plan is boilerplate language and the portions that would be revised leading up to 2020 would involve public hearings that he would have to schedule and supervise anyway.  Supervisors have given Snyder the go-ahead for making sure the resources he would need to update the Hazard Mitigation Plan would be available to him.