By Staff Reports
(Maui) — The Maui County Hazard Mitigation Planning Steering Committee invites all Maui County residents to participate in updating the countywide Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP). A community meeting will be conducted to introduce the HMP planning process on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the Kula Community Center, located at 3690 E. Lower Kula Rd.
The meeting will be held in conjunction with a Community Wildfire Protection Plan community meeting being held that evening. Residents, local officials, industry representatives, educators, and others are encouraged to attend.
Staff will be available on-site to answer questions, and hazard risk maps will be available to visualize the estimated damages that potential natural hazards such as earthquakes or floods could cause in Maui County. Personal preparedness information also will be provided and available to take home.
Maui County is in the process of updating its 2010 Hazard Mitigation Plan to ensure eligibility for future mitigation funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This detailed plan addresses a variety of potential natural hazards that could affect some or all of the county’s residents.
A County webpage is now available at www.mauicounty.gov/hazard as a means of informing and engaging the public in the hazard mitigation planning process. This site will include an online hazard awareness survey and sections of the Draft Plan as they become available. The public is encouraged to take the online survey, review the Draft Plan and provide input to the HMP planning process.
“The update of this plan will allow the County to continue to be eligible for future mitigation funding from FEMA for both public and private property,” said Emergency Management Officer Anna Foust. “As residents become more aware of the potential hazards that could impact our county, our community becomes less vulnerable, more resilient, and recover more quickly when disaster does strike.”
Any questions or comments regarding this process may be directed to Anna Foust at Maui County Civil Defense Agency, ph. (808) 270-7285 or email civil.defense@mauicounty.gov.