Pennington County has completed an updated draft of its Hazard Mitigation Plan and is now seeking public feedback. Like all Minnesota counties, Pennington County is vulnerable to a variety of natural hazards such as tornadoes, windstorms, severe winter storms, flooding, drought, and extreme temperatures, which can threaten the loss of life and property in the county. Planning for natural disasters minimizes the impact of events that can cause vast economic loss and personal hardship.
All county residents, as well as other interested agency or organizational stakeholders are strongly encouraged to review and offer feedback on the interactive website, PDF of the draft plan, and proposed local mitigation actions. The review and comment period is open for a period of 15 days through Monday, Nov. 4. The public can access the plan at the Pennington County HMP Website Homepage (https://pennington-county-hmp-umn.hub.arcgis.com) or Pennington County Mitigation Action Charts at https://pennington-county-hmp-umn.hub.arcgis.com/pages/mitigation-actions. At both of those locations, the feedback form is located at the bottom of the page.
The Pennington County HMP is a multi-jurisdictional plan that covers Pennington County, including all cities and townships within the county. The Pennington County HMP also incorporates the concerns and needs of other key stakeholders such as school districts and related agencies, organizations, or businesses participating in the planning process.
Update of the plan has been under direction of Pennington County Emergency Management in cooperation with U-Spatial at the University of Minnesota Duluth and representatives from county departments, city and township governments and other participating stakeholders. Together, the planning team worked to identify cost-effective and sustainable actions to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life or property from natural hazards. Examples include infrastructure projects for areas that experience repetitive flooding; construction of safe rooms in areas where residents and visitors are vulnerable to tornadoes and severe storm events; burying power lines that may fail due to heavy snow, ice, or wind storms; ensuring timely emergency communication to the public through warning sirens and mass notification systems; and conducting outreach to increase public awareness of severe weather and personal preparedness.
Hazard mitigation planning helps Pennington County and other jurisdictions protect their residents. Working with local communities through the process helps identify vulnerabilities and develop strategies to reduce or eliminate the effects of a potential hazard. In addition, increasing public awareness of natural disasters and encouraging personal preparedness helps to create a community that is resilient to disaster, and breaks the cycle of response and recovery. Updating the plan further allows Pennington County and its jurisdictions to be eligible to apply for future Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant program funding for projects that help to reduce or eliminate the impacts of future natural hazard events.
Community feedback is vital to the success of the plan. Pennington County invites public review and feedback of the draft plan prior to submitting it to the State of Minnesota and FEMA for review. Feedback may be provided via the online comment forms or directly to Pennington County Emergency Management Director Erik Beitel at 218-683-7087 or elbeitel@co.pennington.mn.us.