Mitigation Plan Review

Sedgwick County > Emergency Management > Mitigation Plan Review

PREVENTING RECURRING DAMAGES

SEEKING PUBLIC INPUT

Sedgwick County Emergency Management has begun the process of updating the county’s Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan. An intergovernmental team representing taxing entities and stakeholders from all communities in the county will examine the 2004 Sedgwick County Hazard Mitigation Plan and evaluate the current validity of its goals and objectives and actions. The federal government requires that hazard mitigation plans be updated every five years for municipalities to maintain their eligibility for federal hazard mitigation funds.

A critical component to preparing a comprehensive plan is the input from area residents. The goals and objectives of the 2004 plan are listed below. Please take the time to read them and provide us your feedback.

Local government will have the capability to develop, implement and maintain effective mitigation programs
- Data and information needed for defining hazards, risk areas and vulnerabilities in the community will be obtained
- The capability to effectively utilize available data and information related to mitigation planning and program development will be available
- The effectiveness of mitigation initiatives implemented in the community will be measured and documented
- There will be a program to derive mitigation “lessons learned” from each significant disaster event occurring in or near the community
- Up-to-date technical skills in mitigation planning and programming will be available for the community
All sectors of the community will work together to create a disaster resistant community by the year 2020
- A business continuity and recovery program will be established and implemented in the community
- Local agencies and organizations will establish specific interagency agreements for the development and implementation of mitigation related projects and programs
- Local elected governing bodies will promulgate the local mitigation plan and support community mitigation programming
- Outreach programs to gain participation in mitigation programs by business, industry, institutions and community groups will be developed and implemented
- The community will be periodically updated regarding local efforts in mitigation planning and programming
- The community’s public and private sector organizations will partner to promote hazard mitigation programming throughout the community
The community will have the capability to initiate and sustain emergency response operations during and after a disaster
- Designated evacuation routes will be relocated, retrofitted or modified to remain open before, during and after disaster events
- Designated evacuation shelters will be retrofitted or relocated to ensure their operability during and after disaster events
- Emergency services organizations will have the capability to detect emergency situations and promptly initiate emergency response operations
- Local emergency services facilities will be retrofitted or relocated to withstand the structural impacts of disasters
- Response capabilities will be available to protect visitors, special needs individuals, and the homeless from a disaster’s health and safety impacts
- Shelters or structures for vehicles and equipment needed for emergency services operation will be retrofitted or relocated to withstand disaster impacts
- Utility and communications systems supporting emergency services operations will be retrofitted or relocated to withstand the impacts of disasters
- Vehicle access routes to key health care facilities will be protected from blockage as a result of a disaster
The continuity of local government operations will not be significantly disrupted by
- Buildings and facilities used for the routine operations of government will be retrofitted or relocated to withstand the impacts of disasters
- Community redevelopment plans will be prepared to guide decision making and resource allocation by local government in the aftermath of a disaster
- Important local government records and documents will be protected from the impacts of disasters
- Plans and programs will be available to assist local government employees in retrofitting or relocating their homes to ensure their availability during a disaster
- Plans will be developed, and resources identified, to facilitate reestablishing local government operations after a disaster
- Redundant equipment, facilities, and/or supplies will be obtained to facilitate reestablishing local government operations after a disaster
The health, safety and welfare of the community’s residents and visitors will not be threatened by disasters
- Adequate systems for notifying the public at risk and providing emergency instruction during a disaster will be available in all identified hazard areas
- Effective structural measures will be developed to protect residential areas from the physical impacts of disasters
- Facilities in the community posing an extra health or safety risk when damaged or disrupted will be made less vulnerable to the impacts of a disaster
- Public and private medical and health care facilities in the community will be retrofitted or relocated to withstand the impacts of disasters
- Residential structures will be removed or relocated from defined hazard areas
- Residential structures will be retrofitted to withstand the physical impacts of disasters
- Safety devices on transportation networks will not fail because of a disaster
- Structures, facilities and systems serving visitors to the community will be prepared to meet their immediate health and safety needs
- There will be adequate resources, equipment and supplies to meet victims’ health and safety needs after a disaster
The policies and regulations of local government will support effective hazard mitigation programming throughout the community
- All reconstruction or rehabilitation of local government facilities will incorporate techniques to minimize the physical or operational vulnerability to disasters
- Land use policies, plans and regulations will discourage or prohibit inappropriate location of structures or infrastructure components in areas of higher risk
- Local government will ensure that hazard mitigation needs and programs are given appropriate emphasis in resource allocation and decision making
- Local governments will establish and enforce building and land development codes that are effective in addressing the hazards threatening the community
- Local governments will protect high hazard natural areas from new or continuing development
- Local jurisdictions will participate fully in the National Flood Insurance Program and the associated Community Rating System
- New local government facilities will be located outside of hazard areas and/or will be designed to not be vulnerable to the impacts of such hazards
- Reconstruction and rehabilitation of structures and utilities in the community will incorporate appropriate hazard mitigation techniques
- Regulations will be established and enforced to ensure that public and private property maintenance is consistent with minimizing vulnerabilities to disaster
Residents of the community will have homes, institutions and places of employment that are not vulnerable to disasters
- Economic incentive programs for the general public, businesses and industry to implement structural and nonstructural mitigation measures will be established
- Local government will support key employers in the community in the implementation of mitigation measures for their facilities and systems
- Programs for removal, relocation or retrofitting of vulnerable structures and utilities in hazard areas will be established and implemented
- The vulnerability to disasters of schools, libraries, museums, and other institutions important to the daily lives of the community will be minimized
The economic vitality of the community will not be threatened by a disaster
- Components of the infrastructure needed by the community’s businesses and industries will be protected from the impacts of disaster
- Local government emergency response and disaster recovery plans will appropriately consider the needs of key employers in the community
- Local government will encourage community businesses and industries to make their facilities and operations disaster resistant
- Local government will establish programs, facilities and resources to support business resumption activities by impacted local businesses and industry
- Local government will implement programs to address public perceptions of community condition and functioning in the aftermath of a disaster
- Local government will strive to diversify the employment base of the community
The availability and functioning of the community’s infrastructure will not be significantly disrupted by a disaster here
- Local governments will encourage hazard mitigation programming by private sector organizations owning or operating key community utilities
- Routine maintenance of the community’s infrastructure will be done to minimize the potential for system failure because of or during a disaster
- Sources of energy normally used by the community will not be unwarrantedly vulnerable to the impacts of a disaster
- The telecommunications systems and facilities serving the community will not be unwarrantedly vulnerable to the impacts of a disaster
- Transportation facilities and systems serving the community will be constructed and/or retrofitted to minimize the potential for disruption during a disaster
- Water and sewer services in the community will not fail because of a disaster
All members of the community will understand the hazards threatening local areas and the techniques to minimize vulnerability to those hazards
- All interested individuals will be encouraged to participate in hazard mitigation planning and training activities
- Education programs in risk communication and hazard mitigation will be established and implemented
- Managers of public facilities will be knowledgeable in hazard mitigation techniques and the components of the community’s mitigation plan
- Technical training in mitigation planning and programming will be given to appropriate local government employees
- The owners and operators of businesses and industries in the community will be knowledgeable in appropriate hazard mitigation techniques
- The public living or working in defined hazard areas will be aware of that fact, understand their vulnerability and know appropriate mitigation techniques
- The public will have facilitated access to information needed to understand their vulnerability to disasters and effective mitigation techniques

Click here to submit your feedback via EMail OR use our online comments form below.

PREVENTING RECURRING DAMAGES