Edmunds County Tribune -

Edmunds County has received a grant from FEMA to conduct an update of the existing Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan.

Federal Law requires that each state have a Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan and the State of South Dakota requires local jurisdictions to have individual plans in order to be eligible for Federal grant dollars in the event that a natural disaster occurs in our area.

Two meetings for the Edmunds County Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan Update have been set. The first one will be held Monday, May 3 at 8:30 p.m. at the Roscoe Fire Hall. The second opportunity will be Tuesday, May 11 at 8 p.m. at the Hosmer City Hall during the Hosmer City Council Meeting. Both meetings will cover similar topics, so interested individuals only need to attend one meeting.

This meeting is one step for Edmunds County in updating the Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan. The purpose of the meetings are to explain mitigation and lay out the road map needed to complete a plan in a timely manner. Additional items to be covered at the meetings include: assessing risks, identifying critical structures and recent developments, and updating potential mitigation projects.

Public Involvement is a requirement of the Plan and anyone who is interested in developing the Plan is encouraged to attend and provide comments on natural hazards such as flooding, strong winds, winter storms, summer storms and drought within Edmunds County.

For questions, contact Tracy Hutson, the Edmunds County Emergency Manager at 605-252-0423 or Northeast Council of Governments (NECOG) at 605-626-2595.