Renville County asks public input for updating Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan

Tornadoes, straight-line winds, ice storms, blizzards, flooding, wildland fires, and droughts are natural disasters likely to cause widespread economic loss and personal hardship in Renville County. As the county works to update its multi-hazard mitigation plan, it wants to hear from the public. 

The Renville County Office of Emergency Management is currently working with the University of Minnesota Duluth to update the County’s plan. Also working on the update is a planning team of representatives from county departments, local municipalities, school districts and other key stakeholders such as utility providers. 

The Renville County MHMP is a multi-jurisdictional plan that covers Renville County, including the cities of Bird Island, Buffalo Lake, Danube, Fairfax, Franklin, Hector, Morton, Olivia, Renville, and Sacred Heart.

Examples of hazard mitigation include improvement of roads and culverts that experience repetitive flooding; construction of safe rooms at campgrounds, public parks, mobile home parks or schools to protect lives in the event of tornadoes or severe wind 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 public awareness and education campaigns to help people to be prepared to take safe action before, during, or following a hazard event. Some mitigation activities may be eligible for future FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant funding. 

As part of the planning process, Renville County is seeking feedback from residents and businesses from across the county to incorporate into the plan: 

• What are the natural hazards you feel pose the greatest risk to your community? 
• Have you experienced a previous disaster event? 
• What concerns do you have, and what sorts of mitigation actions or projects do you feel would help to reduce the damages of potential future events for your personal property, your community, or the County as a whole? 

Comments, concerns, or questions regarding natural disasters and potential mitigation actions to be included into the plan update process should be submitted to Renville County Emergency Management. Contact Samantha Best Deputy Director, Mitigation Project Coordinator Renville County Emergency Management Phone: 320-523-3769 Email: [email protected]