Ready for Anything

CAMP DOUGLAS, Wis. (MMD Newswire) December 6, 2010 -- In late September, the fierce storms that struck Clark County caused enough destruction to warrant a federal disaster declaration - and lent urgency to the county's efforts to reduce damage from future storms.

At the time disaster struck, Clark County Emergency Management Director Michelle Hartness and her team -- a regional planner, community leaders and professionals - were taking the final steps on an enhanced all-hazards mitigation plan. A draft of the updated five-year plan has been reviewed by the Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The plan is now in the final stages of approval and adoption.

September's damaging rainfall was a powerful reminder of why such a mitigation plan is needed. There was no way to know when the next floods would strike, when ice storms would shut down the county's power grids or when pestilence would threaten crops. The county and communities worked together and came up with measures to help limit the devastation.

"No one can control Mother Nature, but the scope of Clark County's mitigation planning shows that the county's leaders were not going to sit back and wait for the next disaster," said FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Paul Ricciuti. "In fact, they have come up with an enhanced plan that leaves very little to chance."

Full Story Clark County Earns Praise For Updated All-Hazard Mitigation Plan

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