Route 97 near Narrowsburg, as it looked after the blizzard of March 2018 that felled hundreds of trees across Sullivan County.
Monticello, NY – Sullivan County, with New York State’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (NYSDHSES) and the University at Albany’s Visualization and Informatics Laboratory (AVAIL), is updating its hazard response plan.
Formally titled the “Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan,” it brings local communities together to identify risks, evaluate vulnerabilities and develop strategies to reduce those risks.
“It’s important that we have a Countywide plan to deal with hazards like floods, storms and other natural disasters,” affirms Rick Sauer, Sullivan County’s Public Safety Commissioner. “Not only does it prepare us for the inevitable, it permits us to access crucial federal and State funds that can offset the economic impacts that follow these disasters.”
Sullivan’s Hazard Mitigation Plan must be updated and approved by FEMA in order for the County and participating jurisdictions (like towns and villages) to be eligible for FEMA grants. The anticipated completion date is January 2021.
This is part of a State pilot program, funded by FEMA and administered by NYSDHSES, tasked with testing web-based software and integrated planning. AVAIL, a software laboratory in UAlbany’s Geography and Planning Department, is working with Behan Planning and Design to guide Sullivan through this effort.
The information collected since the February 2020 kickoff is currently under review, and a plan is being drafted.
An official 30-day public comment period will be announced in the coming weeks, but the public is invited to review and comment on the web-based plan while it is still under development, located at https://sullivan.mitigateny.org.
“Please feel free to click around,” Sullivan County Planning Commissioner Freda Eisenberg encourages. “Specific towns and villages can be accessed via a dropdown menu in the top navigation panel. Then email your questions, comments, concerns or other feedback to AVAIL at availabs@gmail.com.”
Following review by the State, local towns and villages will be asked to formally adopt the Plan, so that everyone is on the same page when responding to hazards.