UNIONTOWN -- The Fayette County Emergency Management Agency (FCEMA) is heading to different municipalities to share valuable information concerning hazard mitigation.
According to James Bittner Jr., FCEMA hazard mitigation officer, Fay-Penn Economic Development Council provided a grant of $5,000 for public education for hazard mitigation awareness.
What hazard mitigation is, said Bittner, "is any cost-effective action to reduce long-term risks of life and property from natural or technological hazards."
Bittner said FCEMA has made up a hazard mitigation plan, which was approved by the Fayette County Commissioners in July. Municipalities are encouraged to adopt the plan by next month.
So far, three municipalities have adopted the plan. Bittner added that nearly eight other municipalities are about to review and adopt it.
Parts of the hazard mitigation plan include identifying the 14 hazards the county is most likely to experience and then categorizing the information from the most massive damage and the most common to the least massive and common.
Of the 14, flash flooding topped the list, followed by such incidents as river flooding, tornados, hail storms, earthquakes and terrorism. Other types of hazards that Bittner covered were snow, wildfire, high winds, droughts, chemical spills, civil unrest and mine subsidence.
From that information, FCEMA came up with goals that include bettering community preparedness for hazards, taking steps for reducing overall damage from flooding, identifying landslide incidents, identifying flood zones in each municipality on color-coded maps and identifying other hazards like earthquake probability, which Bittner said there's a 2 percent chance of one earthquake every 50 years in the county.
Bittner also mentioned current programs of which municipalities can get involved, like the Community Emergency Response and Preparedness Program, a Firewise Program from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry, and the Statewide Building Code to prevent damage from strong winds and floods.
Bittner went over what individuals in the county can do to fight hazard damage: Purchasing flood insurance, retrofitting structures or homes that includes moving water heaters and fuse boxes from the basement to an upper floor, relocating property, home inspection, debris removal and pre-planning for hazards.
Also, Bittner named a couple programs that are on the horizon: The Risk Watch Program for children, the Juvenile Fire Setter Program, the Storm Ready Program and continuing programs that educate the public.
This week's workshop was the first of five others to be held in Fayette County. Bittner said he'll have a completed schedule by the end of November.
For more information, contact FCEMA at www.fcema.org
