The Dallas County multi-jurisdiction hazard mitigation plan is currently in the middle of its annual review and the public is invited to weigh in.
Dallas County Emergency Management Coordinator Barry Halling along with representatives from the County’s incorporated cities and school districts gathered together to complete the first review of the plan earlier this month.
Originally approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency one year ago, the plan is valid until April of 2018.
Halling says the annual review is part of the plan maintenance process, with the purpose of reviewing its strategy to reduce the vulnerability of people and property in Dallas County if a natural hazard occurs.
Since last year’s initial approval, there are 28 actions in progress or ongoing, 2 actions have been deleted, 44 have not yet been started an 13 actions were not reported.
According to Halling, the goal of proactive mitigation planning like this is to help reduce the costs of disaster response recovery by protecting facilities, reducing liability exposure, minimizing overall community impacts and making the area eligible for mitigation funding programs.
Public comments and questions on the plan are being accepted through May 9th.
You can email Halling at barry.halling@co.dallas.ia.us or call 993-2134 with your comments.