Logan County EMA to begin preparing countywide plan for natural disasters

[August 01, 2012]  Logan County will begin preparing a countywide plan that will identify activities and projects to reduce the damage caused by natural hazards such as floods, snowstorms, thunderstorms, tornadoes and ice storms, among others. The plan is called a Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan and will be funded through a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Logan County is vulnerable to severe storms and flooding. Since 1965, Logan County has had 10 federal-declared disasters, with flooding occurring during five of those 10. These disasters occurred in 1968, 1973, 1974, 1990, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2011.

All Logan County municipalities are invited to participate in the planning process. Atlanta, Broadwell, Elkhart, Emden, Hartsburg, Lincoln, Mount Pulaski and San Jose have already committed to participate. There is still time for other municipalities to join the process. This is a "living plan" that will be updated annually, allowing participants to add projects to the plan; however, municipalities that do not participate during the formation of the plan must wait five years before they will have the opportunity to participate again.

"Developing this plan will help us be better prepared before storms hit. The focus of this plan is to reduce the harm to property and residents," said Terry Storer, deputy director of the Logan County Emergency Management Agency. "We have an emergency response plan. The mitigation plan is aimed at prevention, so it will complement our response plan. The county and each participating municipality who adopts the plan will become eligible for federal funds for projects that might not otherwise be constructed."

A Logan County Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee has been created with representatives from each participating municipality along with technical partners and other stakeholders. Meetings of the committee will be conducted as working sessions so that any interested resident can attend and ask questions. The purpose of the working sessions is to gather and discuss information that will be used to prepare the plan.

The first meeting of this committee will be on Aug. 9, beginning at 4 p.m., at the Logan County Public Safety Complex, 911 Pekin St. in Lincoln. The committee will meet periodically through the next several months to develop a draft plan.

"Typically plans are developed and then the public is asked to comment. With this Hazard Mitigation Plan, input from the public will be gathered before and during its development. We will also hold a public forum after the plan is drafted, but our focus will be to gather input before the draft is completed," added Storer.

[Text from file received from the Logan County Emergency Management Agency]