Hazard Mitigation

Overview

Steuben County has prepared this Hazard Mitigation Action Plan as a collaborative effort between the County of Steuben, local government jurisdictions, private sector organizations such as schools, hospitals, and the Red Cross; as well as individual private citizens, who are interested in Mitigation Efforts within Steuben County.

This plan is a Multi-jurisdictional plan, which encompasses County operations as well as individual municipalities and jurisdictions within the County of Steuben. The Development of this plan was funded, in part, by a Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant from the New York State Emergency Management Office and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Action Plan Goals

The Plan is aimed at making Steuben County more disaster-resistant by reducing or eliminating the long-term risk of loss of life and property from the full range of natural and man-made disasters. It meets the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 An open public process was established to provide multiple opportunities for all sectors of the community to become involved in the planning process and make input during its drafting stage.

The Plan identifies and assesses the potential impact of twenty-seven natural and man-made hazards that threaten Steuben County. The hazards identified in this plan were each profiled based on their scope, frequency, impact, onset, and duration of each hazard. The populations, buildings, critical and special facilities and commercial facilities at potential risk were considered for each of six sections of the County. The hazards were then prioritized based on potential damages in terms of lives lost, dollar losses, and other community factors.

Forty-one hazard mitigation actions are identified to reduce the long-term risk of damages from hazards. Of these, eight mitigation actions are "multi-hazard", aimed at reducing risk from multiple hazards. Thirty-three mitigation actions are aimed at reducing loss of life and property from specific hazards. The mitigation actions are prioritized, based upon ease of implementation, their effect on the overall risk to life and property, political and community support, and overall project funding.