A Public Meeting has been scheduled to gather community input to include in the City of Ponca City’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Hazard mitigation is the art and science of identifying all 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. A HMP (Hazard Mitigation Plan) codifies these and takes a further step to identify the resources that the City has in place (equipment, staff, plans, infrastructure, etc.) to identify what is deficient, and propose future projects to make our community more resilient in the face of natural disasters.
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) requires that all communities have a Hazard Mitigation Plan 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 we would have been ineligible without a HMP. By design, these plans expire every five years and must be revised to meet current standards and to make sure they match the needs and capabilities of Ponca City.
As an elite member of the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program’s) CRS (Community Rating System), the City of Ponca City’s Hazard Mitigation Plan has additional requirements, including heavily weighing community involvement in every step. The City, in conjunction with Meshek and Associates, will host a public meeting on Wednesday, August 18, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Commission Chamber to receive the community’s concerns and to provide information.
Contact: Jesse Beck, Assistant City Engineer , 580-763-8046
