LAREDO – The City of Laredo will be eligible to apply for grant funding opportunities under the Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) program to fund critical projects such as backup generators, drainage projects, and hardening of critical facilities to minimize future damage from natural disasters.
The City Council emphasized that the Plan has been drafted and made available for public review in compliance with FEMA requirements, so the community has been encouraged to provide comments, assisting the Planning Team in identifying any necessary changes and/or updates.
Under the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires communities or agencies to develop a mitigation plan to minimize or eliminate long-term risk to human life and property from known hazards.
FEMA defines mitigation as taking sustained action to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to people and property from hazards and their effects. Hazards that can pose a risk and potentially cause a disaster include drought, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and other severe hazards.
The planning and review process is as important as the plan itself. Any successful planning activity, such as the development of a comprehensive plan or local land use plan, involves a cross-section of stakeholders and the public to reach consensus on desired outcomes or to solve a community problem.
The result is a common set of community values and widespread support for directing financial, technical, and human resources to an agreed-upon course of action, usually identified in a plan. The same is true for mitigation planning.
An effective and open planning process helps ensure that citizens understand risk and vulnerability, and can work with the city to support policies, actions and tools that in the long term lead to a reduction in future losses. Leadership, staff and internal expertise can fluctuate over time. Therefore, the description of the planning process serves as a permanent record that explains how decisions were made and who was involved.
