Habersham County is updating its Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Through contracted help from Katy Westbrook of Lux Mitigation and Planning, county and city leaders and other stakeholders held their first of three meetings on Tuesday in Clarkesville.
“I feel good about everybody that was here today,” said Habersham County E-911//Emergency Management Agency Director Lynn Smith. “We had great participation, not just from public safety but from the community – different partners here.”
Westbrook said public input is an important aspect of the five-year plan update.
“Any department, agency, organization that is willing to participate is more than welcome to,” Westbrook said. “It’s open to the public. The whole point of the Hazard Mitigation Plan is to look at the hazards, both natural and manmade, that a community could face and then what you can do ahead of time to try to minimize the impact, or lessen the blow, if or when one of those hazards were to occur.”
While the meetings are open to the public, Smith encourages large interests such as organizations, resorts, neighborhoods, or vulnerable populations to send only one representative to the meetings due to space constraints.
Having an up-to-date Hazard Mitigation Plan with input from community stakeholders allows the county and its municipalities to go after Hazard Mitigation Grants. Those Federal Emergency Management Agency grants can help fund the purchase of items like generators, NOAA Weather Radios, and tornado sirens, with FEMA paying 75% of the total cost.
In addition, it allows the county to receive certain types of disaster assistance if or when one of those hazards occurs.
The next meeting will be on August 15, and the final meeting on the plan will be on September 19 at the Habersham County Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center, 120 Paul Franklin Road, Clarkesville.
On Tuesday, participants identified hazards faced in the community (county and municipalities) and prioritized those hazards based on likelihood and preparedness.
Westbrook said the next meeting will include discussion of hazard mitigation strategies, the strategies identified last time the plan was reviewed for the last five years, and will determine whether to delete them, modify them, or add any new strategies that have come up in the past five years. Additionally, any structural projects, resources, or training that can occur ahead of time will be discussed.
Smith explained some entities she would like to see represented in future meetings.
“We’re looking to hopefully, in the next meeting, have some of the utility companies here and different stakeholders as well,” Smith said.
