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The Lowndes County Emergency Management Agency is requesting public assistance toward improving its hazard mitigation plan.

With the assistance of the South Central Alabama Development Commission (SCADC), the agency seeks to update the county’s hazard mitigation plan. According to interim EMA director David Butts, the plan is a part of how municipal governments work toward ensuring citizens’ safety in the event of a natural disaster, laying the groundwork for preparation ahead of events which could include tornados, hurricanes, flooding, drought, wildfires, winter storms, thunderstorms, earthquakes and more.

“This is what we call a regional plan,” Butts said. “We update the plan about every five years and it’s time to renew it. The plan covers every problem you can think of, so that [when they come] they won’t create as much damage as they could.”

Tracy Delaney with SCADC said the commission’s role in the plan update is data collection, meeting facilitation and information assimilation. Virtual meetings are planned to inform stakeholders about the process and provide information on how citizens can participate by providing feedback about risks and vulnerabilities that will impact jurisdictional priorities, goals and action plans.

Lowndes County participated in the first regional assessment in 2021. That report is available at scadc.net/documents/.

“Stakeholders will assist in prioritizing risk and vulnerability to natural disasters and in formulating strategies to mitigate or recover from disaster events,” Delaney said. “For instance, is there an at-risk location, such as a nursing home, that does not have a generator for a power outage? Are there parts of the county where flooding, or flash flooding has increased? And why?  

Zoom meetings are slated for April 3 and April 10 beginning at 10 a.m. Links to join will be sent out one week prior to the meeting dates.

“At the first meeting, we will focus on risk and vulnerability and the second meeting, we will address goals and strategies for each jurisdiction,” Delaney said. “Further, if a natural disaster occurs and a local government requests disaster recovery funds from FEMA, they are not eligible for those funds unless they have a current and adopted hazard mitigation plan.”

The plan update is a vital part of meeting community needs in the event of a disaster, Butts said.

“You don’t think about where your umbrella is until it starts to rain. But we need to prepare for a storm before it gets here, not when it is here.”

Butts said the Lowndes EMA is also soliciting public input through an online survey. Citizens may complete the survey by visiting www.surveymonkey.com/r/8KCP753.