The City of Ponca City, in conjunction with the contractor, Meshek and Associates, will host a public meeting on Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Commission Chamber of City Hall, 516 E. Grand Avenue, to gather the community’s concerns and to provide information regarding the development of the City’s HMP (Hazard Mitigation Plan). The City’s contracted hydrologist will also discuss the areas identified as Repetitive Loss Areas, and what that means for the affected residents.
Hazard mitigation is the art and science of identifying all the natural hazards likely to impact our City, ranking them by level of concern (both the damage they can do and the likelihood that they will impact the community) and then identifying the resources that would be needed to meet that disaster in an effort to prevent damage and loss of life. An HMP codifies these and takes a further step to identify the resources that the City has in place (equipment, staff, plans, infrastructure), identify what is lacking, and propose future projects to make our community more resilient in the face of natural disasters.
FEMA requires all communities have an HMP before they can apply for most FEMA disaster relief funding. To date, the City has received more than $1.6 million in federal disaster funds, for which the City would have been ineligible without an HMP. By design, these plans expire every five years and must be revised to meet current standards and to make sure they match the City’s needs and capabilities. As an elite member of the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System, the City of Ponca City’s HMP has additional requirements, including heavily weighing community involvement in every step.
