St. Louis County seeks input on hazard mitigation plan

St. Louis County residents, community leaders, business owners and other stakeholders are encouraged to submit input as the county updates its hazard mitigation plan.

The county's emergency management office is working with U-Spatial at the University of Minnesota-Duluth for the plan update. Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management is funding this update with a grant, according to a news release.

St. Louis County residents are encouraged to share how severe weather events impact their property and lives, and may also share ideas on how to reduce local impacts in the future.

The hazard mitigation plan assesses natural weather events that pose risks to the county, such as flooding, tornadoes, windstorms, winter storms, extreme temperatures, wildfire and drought.

It also identifies local vulnerabilities and ways to minimize damage from future events.

“Hazard mitigation planning is a central part of our emergency management program,” stated Josh Brinkman, St. Louis County's emergency management coordinator, in a news release.

“Understanding the natural hazards that can cause serious impact to our communities and taking action to reduce or eliminate the impact of future disasters makes us more resilient. Hazard mitigation helps us break the cycle of damage and repair caused by things like flooding, ice storms and severe wind events that can damage property, stress economies and threaten life safety in our county.”

Public feedback will be incorporated into the plan, with the county seeking input on:

• What are the natural hazards you feel pose the greatest risk to your community?
• Are there specific populations or assets in your community that you feel are more vulnerable to future storm events?
• What concerns do you have, and what sorts of actions do you feel would help to reduce damages of future hazard events in your community or the county as a whole?

Feedback can be submitted online or directly to St. Louis County Emergency Management.

The Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires counties to update their plan every five years to maintain eligibility for FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs.