County reviews multi-hazard mitigation plan

A planning team comprised of representatives from throughout Pinal County and several incorporated jurisdictions has reviewed and updated an existing multi-hazard mitigation plan, which was consolidated into a single multi-jurisdictional, multi-hazard mitigation plan. 

The mitigation plan addresses the natural hazards that pose the greatest risk to residents and critical infrastructure. A final draft of the 2010 Pinal County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan is now available for review and comment.
 
A well coordinated planning effort for hazard mitigation was conducted for Pinal County jurisdictions, in accordance with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. The Act requires all local, county, tribal and state governments to have an approved Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hazard mitigation plan in order to be eligible for federal disaster mitigation grant funding.  The plan focuses on the most threatening hazards throughout Pinal County and provides a strategy to reduce or eliminate the risk to people and property from those hazards.
 
Mitigation is not responding to emergencies like floods and wildfires, but rather is a jurisdiction’s strategy for preventing or significantly reducing the impact of such hazards prior to their occurrence. The mitigation planning process involves identifying and profiling natural hazards that will most likely occur in a community, as well as assessing the vulnerability of critical community facilities and structures. The plan will also help community leaders to evaluate risk hazards to our population, and establish goals, actions and projects that help mitigate the associated risks.
 
Public input on the final draft of the plan is important, and residents are highly encouraged to review the plan and offer comments within the next 30 days. The formal comment period will close on July 12, 2010. For more information or questions, visit the Pinal County Multi-Jurisdictional Plan Web site.
 
You may also email comments to Lou Miranda, Pinal County Emergency Management Officer for the Pinal County Office of Emergency Management at [email protected].

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