Town Seeks Public Comment On Weston's Hazard Mitigation Plan

Press release from the Town of Weston:

May 28, 2020

Weston’s Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) is currently being revised to incorporate the results of a vulnerability assessment developed as part of the state’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant program - initiated by Weston’s Sustainability Committee - and in accordance with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines.

The purpose of the Plan is to recommend actions and policies for the Town that are meant to reduce the social and economic losses resulting from natural hazards.

Public Comment

Public feedback is an important component to the process of the updating the plan, which is summarized below. The DRAFT 2020 Hazard Mitigation Plan is available online for public review and comments can be submitted through an online form, which is available below. All comments received will be delivered to the review committee.

Thank you in advance for your time and thoughtful comments. We ask for all comments to be submitted no later than June 11th. We recognize how valuable personal time is, so if you would like to help but want to know specifically where to look, we recommend providing input on the history of the identified hazards (Chapter 3) and mitigation actions (Chapter 6) identified in the draft plan below.

• Town of Weston 2020 Hazard Mitigation Plan (PDF) - DRAFT
• Public Comment Form

Plan Overview

The MVP additions to Weston’s HMP are focused on enhancing Weston’s resilience to a changing climate. While all four hazards identified through the MVP process were also included in the HMP update process, the MVP lens looks at both past trends and future projections, based on climate science.

Looking at past natural events, the town is vulnerable to a number diverse occurrences including severe winter storms, hurricanes, flooding, brushfires, drought, and extreme temperatures. The discussion puts the likelihood of these events into historical perspective and recognizes that although the probability of thunderstorms and lightning events may be higher, the intensity and potential impacts from less likely events such as hurricanes can be far greater.

More information can be found on the Hazard Mitigation Plan web page, as well as the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) plan. These projects are the result of work by Weston’s Sustainability Committee.

Additional Info...

This press release was produced by the Town of Weston. The views expressed here are the author’s own.