Public comment sought on county’s Hazard Mitigation Plan by August 27, 2024
Olmsted County has completed an updated draft of its Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) and is now seeking public feedback. Like all Minnesota counties, Olmsted County is vulnerable to a variety of natural hazards such as tornadoes, windstorms, severe winter storms, flooding, drought, and extreme temperatures, which can threaten the loss of life and property in the county. Planning for natural disasters minimizes the impact of events that can cause vast economic loss and personal hardship.
All county residents, as well as other interested agency or organizational stakeholders, are strongly encouraged to review and offer feedback on the interactive website, PDF of the draft plan, and proposed local mitigation actions via the links below.
The review and comment period is open for 15 days through August 27, 2024.
The Olmsted County HMP is a multi-jurisdictional plan covering Olmsted County, including the cities of Byron, Chatfield, Dover, Eyota, Oronoco, Pine Island, Rochester, and Stewartville. As one of four Minnesota cities of the first class (more than 100,000 inhabitants), the City of Rochester previously developed a separate hazard mitigation plan. To address planning for natural disasters more comprehensively and build on shared capabilities, Olmsted County and the City of Rochester are now partnering to address hazard mitigation planning under one joint plan.
The plan update has been under direction of Olmsted County Emergency Management in cooperation with U-Spatial at the University of Minnesota Duluth and representatives from county departments, city and township governments, school districts, and other key stakeholders. Together, the planning team worked to identify cost-effective and sustainable actions to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life or property from natural hazards. Examples include infrastructure projects for areas that experience repetitive flooding; construction of safe rooms in areas where residents and visitors are vulnerable to tornadoes and severe storm events; burying powerlines that may fail due to heavy snow, ice, or wind storms; ensuring timely emergency communication to the public through warning sirens and mass notification systems; and conducting outreach to increase public awareness of severe weather and personal preparedness.
Hazard mitigation planning helps Olmsted County and other jurisdictions protect their residents. Working with local communities through the process helps identify vulnerabilities and develop strategies to reduce or eliminate the effects of a potential hazard. In addition, increasing public awareness of natural disasters and encouraging personal preparedness helps to create a community that is resilient to disaster, and breaks the cycle of response and recovery. Updating the plan further allows Olmsted County and its jurisdictions to be eligible to apply for future FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant program funding for projects that help to reduce or eliminate the impacts of future natural hazard events.
Community feedback is vital to the success of the plan. Olmsted County invites public review and feedback of the draft plan prior to submitting it to the State of Minnesota and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for review. Feedback may be provided via the online comment forms or directly to Olmsted County Emergency Management Director Captain Jonathan Jacobson at 507-328-6101 or jonathan.jacobson@olmstedcounty.gov.