Officials from Madison spent countless hours preparing the town for Sandy’s strike. Following the storm, they put in even more hours to help keep residents stay safe and clean-up the mess. And then there was the nor'easter, dubbed Athena by the Weather Channel. Now a regional government agency is asking residents in Madison and surrounding towns to participate in a survey about disaster planning and preparedness.
“The South Central Regional Council of Governments [SCROG] has been awarded a grant from the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to develop a Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan for Bethany, Branford, Hamden, Madison, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford, West Haven and Woodbridge. The five additional municipalities in the Region (East Haven, Guilford, Meriden, Milford, and New Haven) have completed or are currently working on Hazard Mitigation Plans. They have been invited to participate in this planning process,” SCROG’s website says. They are looking for residents to participate in a brief survey about disaster planning and preparedness.
“The purpose of this plan is to identify and assess the region’s natural hazard risks (such as flooding, winter storms, tornadoes and wildfires) and determine how to best minimize or manage those risks,” the survey says.
“Upon completion, this plan will be presented to the local governing bodies of participating jurisdictions for adoption and then submitted to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for review and approval.”
Eugene Livshits, SCROG Regional Planner, said the survey will be available through mid-January 2013; by the end of February 2013 the results will be made available to the Advisory Committee, which consists of representatives from the participating municipalities and other stakeholders in the Region. "The final version of the Mitigation Plan is scheduled for review by the State in September 2013," he said.
The survey asks questions about your personal experience with natural disasters and specifically asks you to rank, by importance, categories that are most susceptible to hazards in Madison. Reflecting on Irene and more recently Sandy, what area do you think is most susceptible?
- People (loss of life)
- Economic (business interruption, loss of jobs)
- Infrastructure (damage to roads bridges utilities, schools)
- Governance (ability to maintain order and provide public service)
- Culture/historic (damage to libraries, museums, or history property)
- Environmental (damage, contamination or loss of forest, wetlands, waterways)
