Douglas County Prepares To Approve New Hazard Plan

A lot has happened in the last eight years.

Douglas County officials are prepping to finalize a new Hazard Mitigation Plan - one which will replace the existing protocols which were adopted in 2016.  The plan specifies the ways that action is taken during an emergency situation. While the bulk of the plan outlines what response efforts would look like during a so-called "natural" hazard, it also plays a role in any emergency.

Since 2016, our area has seen many events that fall under the hazard category occur with more frequency. Even a quick glance at the weather events that happened since the current plan was adopted, Douglas County has seen two floods that "were of a magnitude that allowed for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency" - in July 2016 and again in June 2018.

In order to put together a new Hazard Mitigation Plan for Douglas County, area leaders started meeting about a year ago.  That planning committee "focused on identifying the risks, on developing strategies to address the hazards, and on putting them into a plan".

The process is currently at the point that that planning committee is looking for review and commentary from the general public. Right now a draft of the proposed Douglas County Hazard Mitigation Plan is available on the county's website.  Members of the public will have until the end of the month (May 31) to provide any comments and suggestions that they want to add.

Those comments can be submitted to Eric Howell of the Northwest Regional Planning Commission:  715-635-2197, extension 238.