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Kiowa County Emergency Management Services has released its multi-hazard mitigation plan. The sprawling 181-page document, which has been four years in the making, addresses disasters in two separate parts.
The first section outlines potential risks and potential disasters.
The second section addresses the risks and presents mitigation plans for emergency procedures in the event of disasters.
“The plan groups the county together as a whole with geographic data and demographics,” said Kiowa County Emergency Management Services Manager Ray Stegman. “It puts everything together in one piece of material. We also have the Emergency Operations Plan that goes along with it. Between the two of them it summarizes the threats in the county and some of the potential risks.”
A Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee (HMPC) was formed to assess risk and profile potential hazards to residents of Kiowa County. The document lists the participants as Kiowa County EMS, the Kiowa County Health Department, the Kiowa County Historical Society, the City of Greensburg, the City of Mullinville and the City of Haviland.
National organizations including the American Red Cross, the Kansas Forest Service and the National Weather Service are also listed as contributors.
The report’s opening chapters explain the plan itself, its maintenance and the action of the committee responsible for creating it as well as information on the topography, weather conditions and demographics of county residents.
The document lists 13 disasters, which it says could affect the county.
In its risk assessment it lists five events as “highly likely,” which means it is probable within the calendar year, has a 1-in-1 chance of occurring and has a history of such events.
Tornados, hailstorms, wildfires, windstorms and winter storms are all listed as “highly likely”, with tornados, wildfires and winter storms listed high on its planning significance and tornados listed as “catastrophic” in magnitude.
It continues to list risk and mitigation plans for extreme temperatures, flood, lighting, agricultural infestation, geological hazards and drought.
The document also lists recommendations to the county and cities to become better prepared for disasters.
The plan recommends:
- Distributing weather radios
- Increase weather spotting training
- Provide back up generators to community shelters
- Create a text message alert system
- Additional fire training
- Hazardous fuels reduction
- Additional public education programs
- Apply for FEMA grants
“Many of those goals have been met,” said Stegman. ”Although with things like the generators, those are really expensive, so we haven’t had the funds to complete that.”
Kiowa County Emergency Management Services has released its multi-hazard mitigation plan. The sprawling 181-page document, which has been four years in the making, addresses disasters in two separate parts.
The first section outlines potential risks and potential disasters.
The second section addresses the risks and presents mitigation plans for emergency procedures in the event of disasters.
“The plan groups the county together as a whole with geographic data and demographics,” said Kiowa County Emergency Management Services Manager Ray Stegman. “It puts everything together in one piece of material. We also have the Emergency Operations Plan that goes along with it. Between the two of them it summarizes the threats in the county and some of the potential risks.”
A Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee (HMPC) was formed to assess risk and profile potential hazards to residents of Kiowa County. The document lists the participants as Kiowa County EMS, the Kiowa County Health Department, the Kiowa County Historical Society, the City of Greensburg, the City of Mullinville and the City of Haviland.
National organizations including the American Red Cross, the Kansas Forest Service and the National Weather Service are also listed as contributors.
The report’s opening chapters explain the plan itself, its maintenance and the action of the committee responsible for creating it as well as information on the topography, weather conditions and demographics of county residents.
The document lists 13 disasters, which it says could affect the county.
In its risk assessment it lists five events as “highly likely,” which means it is probable within the calendar year, has a 1-in-1 chance of occurring and has a history of such events.
Tornados, hailstorms, wildfires, windstorms and winter storms are all listed as “highly likely”, with tornados, wildfires and winter storms listed high on its planning significance and tornados listed as “catastrophic” in magnitude.
It continues to list risk and mitigation plans for extreme temperatures, flood, lighting, agricultural infestation, geological hazards and drought.
The document also lists recommendations to the county and cities to become better prepared for disasters.
The plan recommends:
- Distributing weather radios
- Increase weather spotting training
- Provide back up generators to community shelters
- Create a text message alert system
- Additional fire training
- Hazardous fuels reduction
- Additional public education programs
- Apply for FEMA grants
“Many of those goals have been met,” said Stegman. ”Although with things like the generators, those are really expensive, so we haven’t had the funds to complete that.”
Here are some noteworthy selections from the plan:
Agricultural Infestation and drought:
Vulnerability Overview
Over 90 percent of the 462,477 acres in Kiowa County are used for agricultural purposes, such as pasture for livestock grazing or fields planted with crops. The agricultural economy of Kiowa County is vulnerable to periods of drought. Drought can also affect the water supply and water quality of communities and water districts in the County. Drought increases the impacts of soil erosion and dust and the risk of wildfire hazards.
Identifying Structures and Estimating Potential Losses
Drought normally does not impact structures and it can be difficult to identify specific hazard areas. Data is not available to estimate potential losses to structures in identified hazard areas. According to the USDA Risk Management Agency, the average amount of annual claims paid for crop damage in Kiowa County from 2004 to 2008 was $756,499. The HMPC realizes that USDA claims only represent a small portion of the actual damages. However, this is the only data specific to Kiowa County available at this time from which to compute loss estimates. Agricultural damages are estimated to be at least $350,000 annually. Other losses as a result of drought are not quantifiable at this time.
Future Development
As population grows, so do the water needs for household, commercial, industrial, recreational, and agricultural uses. However, population is declining in Kiowa County and there is limited new development; vulnerability to drought is unlikely to increase.
Section 3.4 Summary of Key Issues
The HMPC will focus efforts for the mitigation strategy on those hazards with a moderate and high planning significance. The following section summarizes key issues brought out by the risk assessment.
- All farms in Kiowa County are susceptible to agricultural infestation
- The American Red Cross assists Kiowa County during periods of extreme temperatures with cooling centers or warming centers
- All of Kiowa County is in Wind Zone IV with winds up to 250 mph.
- Not all public buildings/schools have tornado safe rooms
- Existing shelter areas in schools and public buildings may not offer adequate protection
- Public may have difficulty getting to a shelter during a tornado event
- Not all citizens have indoor weather radios
- Wildfires have historically impacted large areas in the county. From 2003-2006, Kiowa
- County lost an average of 1,055 acres per year.
- Ice accumulation associated with some winter storms causes widespread power outages
- Overhanging tree limbs can damage power lines, buildings, and automobiles
- The county has a high population of elderly citizens that can be more vulnerable to disaster events
