Have Your Say on County Hazard Plan

If you think there is room for improvement in the way Northampton County and individual municipalities handle hazards—like Hurricane Sandy—you have until April 8 to voice your opinion on the Bi-County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The Hazard Mitigation Plan is a living document that communities use to reduce their vulnerability to hazards, like extreme temperatures, hailstorms, windstorms, building collapses, terrorism, nuclear incidents and more.

Northampton County Emergency Management Services and the Lehigh County Emergency Management Agency are asking for public input as it finalizes an update to the plan.

At least one Nazareth resident felt there was a lack of pre-Hurricane Sandy information tailored to borough residents (see DRAFT Wind Hazard Profile).

”Nothing about what we should do, where we should go,” said Becky Butz during a Nazareth Borough Council workshop in early December.

Borough secretary/treasurer Paul Kokolus said the mayor’s directive about Sandy was placed on the borough’s website the day before the storm pounded the Lehigh Valley. Vigilance Hose Co. No. 1 also issued a statement, which was posted on its Facebook page and on Nazareth Patch.

Butz, however, said the pre-Sandy information available to borough residents was inadequate, lacking details about evacuations and assistance for residents without power. She said she was “literally sweating bullets” because of her sister, who is disabled and lives in the nearby Cherry Hill section of Bushkill Township.

She said she called Bushkill fire officials twice to ask about evacuation plans. Both times, she said, the answer was “I don’t know.”

According to a county press release:

"Hazard Mitigation Plans form the foundation for a community’s long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction and repeated damage. The plan creates a framework for risk based decision making to reduce damages to lives, property and the economy from future disasters. Further, maintaining this plan via the five year update cycle is a requirement in order for the Counties and their municipalities to maintain eligibility to receive Federal mitigation grant funding."

For more information, visit www.ncem-pa.org and click on the Hazard Mitigation tab. The draft sections of the plan are available on the website for public review and comment. They have also been uploaded to this story for easy access.

The plan will be available for public comment from March 25 until April 8. All comments received by April 8 will be reviewed and considered for incorporation by the Hazard Mitigation Steering Committee.

If you have any questions, or wish to provide input on the plan, contact:

Angel L. Gillette, Hazard Mitigation/Disaster Recover Manager

Northampton County Emergency Management Services
100 Gracedale Avenue
Nazareth, PA 18064
Phone: (610) 746-3194 Ext 2230

OR

Tanya Hook, Community Outreach Coordinator

Lehigh County Emergency Management
640 W Hamilton St, 8th Floor
Allentown, PA 18101
Phone: (610) 782-4600