Background

 

 

What is Hazard Mitigation?

Hazard Mitigation is a sustained action that reduces or eliminates long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards and their effects. Mitigation is not prevention, but rather steps that can be taken to reduce or eliminate the effects of disasters when they do strike.

What is the Yuba County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan?

The Yuba County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan is a comprehensive county-wide effort designed to identify the risks that affect Yuba County and to mitigate against those risks. In conjunction with the Cities of Marysville and Wheatland, local fire departments, reclamation districts, school districts and others, a comprehensive risk analysis is being completed with the aid of HAZUS-MH, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) developed risk analysis software program that calculates the potential cost of a disaster.

Once the risks have been identified, ways to mitigate against these hazards can be considered and prioritized. When the plan has been completed and approved, all local jurisdictions become eligible to apply for hazard mitigation grants to fund the projects identified in the plan. The entire process, from the initial planning meetings, to the risk assessment, to the mitigation projects are documented in each jurisdictions' final hazard mitigation plan, as well as in the county-wide multi-jurisdictional plan.

The scope of work that won Yuba County the largest planning grant award in the nation is both detailed and ambitious. It includes a large public outreach portion, including the development of an informational website and the creation and distribution of a series of brochures to educate the public about the necessity of hazard mitigation. The inclusion of all jurisdictions and the gathering of area stakeholders is a monumental task that is a major component of any hazard mitigation plan. The comprehensive GIS mapping component is one of the major reasons for the large grant award.

There are no one-size-fits-all templates for developing a multi-hazard mitigation plan. There are common elements between plans, but each plan, by necessity, will be different in order to reflect the unique hazards, conditions, and characteristics of each district. district.              

How is the Plan being funded?

The Yuba County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan is funded through a FEMA grant award. The award was the largest planning grant awarded in the nation, and is significant for a small, rural county whose history is plagued with devastating floods, fires, and agricultural disasters.

The Yuba County Multi-Hazard Mitigation plan also satisfies the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000), which mandates that all state and local governments create and maintain a multi-hazard mitigation plan in order to remain eligible for hazard mitigation funds after a disaster. Completion of the plan will allow Yuba County to apply for hazard mitigation grants to complete projects that reduce or eliminate the risks to the citizen of Yuba County.

Who is participating?

The Yuba County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan is a multi-jurisdictional plan that incorporates all local governments and special districts, community service districts, cemetery districts, fire department and fire protection districts, school districts, reclamation districts, water and irrigation districts, private and public organizations, and numerous departments within Yuba County. Private businesses, utilities, state organizations and federal departments are also providing aid and information in the development of the Yuba County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan. These identified stakeholders are hard at work gathering asset information and conducting hazard risk assessments, while making contacts and developing a spirit of cooperation that will help ensure the public's safety when the next disaster strikes.

Of course, no plan would be truly comprehensive without the inclusion of the biggest stakeholder, the community. Citizens throughout the county have been helping in risk assessment, asset inventory, even in plan development in some cases. Without the participation of the community, any mitigation plan would be incomplete. To help develop the Yuba County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, simply fill out this questionnaire.

Are all jurisdictions required to participate?

The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) requires all local jurisdictions complete a hazard mitigation plan in order to receive hazard mitigation funds in the future. Most jurisdictions with Yuba County are participating and will be a part of the County-wide plan. The Dobbins-Oregon House Fire Protection District, Peoria Cemetery District, and Yuba County Water Agency have taken it a step further, creating their own exhaustive multi-hazard mitigation plans. Dobbins-Oregon House FPD and the Peoria Cemetery District completed their plans entirely through the work of community volunteers who worked with county mitigation staff.

What will the Plan accomplish?

The Yuba County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan will create a safer, more responsive Yuba County.

The plan will identify the hazards that affect the County and will pinpoint the most troubling occurrences and locations during the risk assessment process. Plans and projects will then be identified to mitigate against these hazards. Once these projects are identified in the approved hazard mitigation plan, the jurisdiction's governmental entity can apply for future grants to fund these projects. This means that your tax dollars will be returned to you in the form of increased safety and decreased costs after a disaster.

In addition to making the County safer, the plan provides a forum for collaboration, establishing the groundwork for future inter-agency cooperation in pre-disaster planning and emergency preparedness.