Newaygo County Seeking Public Comment on the 2020 Edition of the Hazard Management Plan

Newaygo County, MI. – In October of 2019, the Newaygo County Board of Commissioners approved a FEMA Pre-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Grant to revise and reauthorize the existing Newaygo County Hazard Management Plan.  The Newaygo County Hazard Management Plan is a multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan developed pursuant to the criteria contained in 44CFR Part 201, as authorized by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. This plan is required to maintain eligibility to seek federal funding under the Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Program. The plan is required to be updated every five years and expired in August 2020. 

Hazard mitigation is an important part of being a disaster resilient community. Hazard mitigation is any action taken before, during, or after a disaster to permanently eliminate or reduce the long-term risk to human life and property from natural, technological, and man-made hazards.  Examples of hazard mitigation activities include voluntary acquisition or elevation of flood prone structures, creation of defensible spaces around wildland urban interface areas, protective measures for utility infrastructure, storm water management projects that reduce flood risk, etc. The purpose of mitigation planning is to identify policies and actions that can be implemented over the long term to reduce risk and future losses. 

Maintaining a FEMA approved Hazard Mitigation Plan has positive, local impacts within the County. In December 2016, Newaygo County was awarded $239,316.00 in grants to implement a new flood warning system for approximately 35 miles of the Muskegon River in Newaygo County utilizing the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Flood Inundation Mapper System. As a part of the project an additional two river gages, which were funded by the Fremont Area Community Foundation, were installed in Newaygo and Bridgeton. Newaygo County was eligible to apply for this Hazard Mitigation Grant because our community maintains a Hazard Mitigation Plan. 

A draft Newaygo County Hazard Management Plan 2020 Edition has been prepared by Newaygo County Emergency Services.  The Community Profile portion of this document was reviewed by the Local Emergency Planning Team on October 15, 2019.  The Hazard Analysis portion of this document was reviewed by the Local Emergency Planning Team over three meetings held on December 17, 2019, January 21, 2020, and February 18, 2020. The Hazards Profile and Evaluations Annex B portion of this document was reviewed by the Local emergency Planning Team on August 18, 2020. The Hazard Mitigation portion of this document was reviewed by the Local Emergency Planning Team on September 15, 2020. 
​
Newaygo County is seeking public comment on the draft Hazard Management Plan. The plan has been posted to the County of Newaygo’s Website for review and comment at http://www.countyofnewaygo.com/. Your participation will enable Newaygo County Emergency Services to ensure the plan reflects the most up to date community data and information. In addition, a short survey has been created to gather additional information on different hazard events which have occurred in Newaygo County. Anyone with the following link can respond to the survey:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=FphJxb9yaEu0ITdZSCbc1t03a5ULdxJCkxRvak4PlzZUMjRCUVkzN0dJVzFKUFJRR1lVVVhBM1RKNi4u  

Please take a few moments to review the plan and provide additions, corrections, and updates to this document. You may provide your input through use of the survey or directly contacting Emergency Services Deputy Director Renee Gavin at (231) 689-7354 or email [email protected].
 
Thank you for your time and contribution to this update of the Newaygo County Hazard Management Plan!