Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan

Natural hazards pose a risk for disaster in Dane County. Past occurrences have exacted a heavy toll. Natural hazards in Dane County have caused personal injury, severe property damage, disruption of local economies, and harm to the natural environment. Specific examples of natural disasters in Dane County include: An ice storm in 1976 caused more than $1.2 million in uninsured damages to private property. The Barneveld tornado in 1984 also passed through the town of Vermont and the village of Black Earth in Dane County. Damages in Dane County alone exceeded $4 million. Widespread flooding in 1993 and 2000 heavily impacted homeowners, farmers, and local governments in the County. Combined response and recovery costs totaled more than $30 million. Extreme localized flooding occurs somewhere within the County almost every year. Most recently, on August 18, 2005, a tornado left a path of destruction across southeastern Dane County, causing more than $30 million in property damage in the towns of Albion, Christiana, Dunkirk, Dunn, and Pleasant Springs and the City of Stoughton. In response to concerns raised by these and other past disasters, County Executive Kathleen Falk and the County Board’s Public Protection and Judiciary Committee directed the County’s Department of Emergency Management to prepare a Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan. The purpose of this plan is to better understand the natural hazards and their impacts on the people and property of the County. But the plan is not simply a descriptive exercise. The plan is intended as a plan of action, identifying a wide range of options to reduce the County’s vulnerability to natural hazards - before the next disaster occurs. This plan is designed to meet the requirements of the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000). The DMA 2000 established new Federal hazard mitigation project funding sources and new state and local planning requirements as conditions of project funding eligibility. The DMA 2000 also provides specific criteria for the preparation and adoption of multi-jurisdictional, “all-hazards” mitigation plans by local governments to meet these requirements. Dane County’s plan was prepared to support the requirements of a mitigation plan for all participating local governments in the County. Dane County's plan has been adopted by the County Board and approved by FEMA. Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan Documents Unless otherwise specified, all documents are in PDF format. Executive Summary Entire Document (without Appendices or Attachments) Cover Page, Table of Contents, and Plan Overview Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Planning Process Chapter 3: Dane County Profile Chapter 4: Natural Hazard Vulnerability Assessment Chapter 5: Problem Definition Chapter 6: Recommendations Chapter 7: Plan Adoption and Maintenance, Glossary, References Appendix A: Plan to Plan Document and Invitations to Local Governments Appendix B: Ad Hoc Natural Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee Meeting Minutes Appendix C: Focus Group Appendix D: Public Meeting Appendix E: Plan Adoption The plan was prepared as a multi-jurisdictional plan. All 61 local units of government in the County were invited to participate in the planning process. The decision whether or not to participate in this process was a local decision, based on local community needs. Thirteen local governments have opted to participate in this effort. Each of these municipalities has completed a local hazard assessment and has identified mitigation projects to be performed locally. You are also invited to review and comment on attachments to the County plan for these localities: Attachment 1: City of Monona Attachment 2: City of Stoughton Attachment 3: Village of Maple Bluff Attachment 4: Village of DeForest Attachment 5: Town of Berry Attachment 6: Town of Deerfield Attachment 7: Town of Dunn Attachment 8: Town of Madison Attachment 9: Town of Springdale Attachment 10: Town of Springfield Attachment 11: Town of Sun Prairie Attachment 12: Town of Vienna Attachment 13: Town of Westport Attachment 14: Village of Oregon Please visit our feedback page if you have any questions or comments that you would like to send. Additional Resources Resources for Participating Governments Agreement and Appointment Forms Wisconsin Emergency Management Hazards Mitigation Guide (859Kb) Preventing Wind Damage (2.42Mb) Hazard Mitigation Ideas (237Kb) Links Wisconsin Department of Emergency Management Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA Mitigation Planning Midwest Regional Climate Center Wisconsin State Climatologist National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center Local Weather Service Office