Androscoggin County updating hazard mitigation plan

Feb. 12--AUBURN -- Hoping to alleviate natural and man-made disasters in the county, the Androscoggin United Emergency Management Agency is finalizing its five-year hazard mitigation report.

A review meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the county EMA office in Lewiston.

The purpose of the meeting is to allow Androscoggin County municipal officials to review the document and submit "corrections, revisions, additions and deletions" to the plan, said Joanne Potvin, the executive director of the Androscoggin County EMA.

The plan provides a baseline that defines known areas of concern that need to be addressed. Projects, if approved, are funded largely by hazard mitigation grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency,which can provide up to 75 percent of the funding to fix or repair the deficiencies.

With flooding being the top disaster concern in the county, projects could range from replacing culverts that are too small and rebuilding roads and bridges to building infrastructure to insure that storm water does not mix with waste water collection systems.

The report provides an overview of the county, describing such issues as climate, geography, transportation, population, employment and history. It goes on to perform a risk assessment, identifying potential hazards.

The report identifies flood-dam failure, severe winter storm, severe summer storm and wildfire as the four most likely disasters that will occur in Androscoggin County.

Once the report is completed, it will be sent to the state EMA and to FEMA for approval. FEMA generally takes four to six weeks to approve the plan, Potvin said. She expects to receive FEMA's response by mid April.

FEMA uses the plan to prioritize requests and decide which projects are worthy of funding.

Money for hazard mitigation grants is usually available twice a year.

The report must be updated every five years.

Potvin is asking municipal officials to send any potential changes or corrections electronically if they are unable to attend Thursday's meeting.

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