The Emergency Management Department announced today that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved Columbia County's Multi-Jurisdictional Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan (MJNHMP). "The approval of the county's MJNHMP is an important milestone in Columbia County being eligible to participate in major federal/FEMA hazard mitigation grant programs. These funds will help to implement programs that will enhance our community coordination and integration during mitigation activities," said Deputy Director of Emergency Management, Shaun Brown.

Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation begins with local governments and special districts assessing the community’s risks and vulnerabilities to natural hazard events such as earthquakes, flooding, and wildfire that are common in their area. After identifying these risks, they develop long-term strategies to reduce or eliminate the risk posed to people and property from similar events.

The Hazard Mitigation Plan is a framework that guides our community in making decisions and developing policies to reduce risk to life and property. The plan identifies the types of hazards that threaten our community, evaluates our vulnerability to those threats, and outlines a strategy to reduce or eliminate the risk posed by those threats to break the cycle of repeated destruction by natural hazard events.

Columbia County has maintained a Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan for the last nine years, combining the planning efforts of the county and all seven of the incorporated cities. The new Multi-Jurisdictional Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan will be relevant for the next five (5) years