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City Council on Feb. 7 approved the Hamblen County Hazard Mitigation Plan during its regularly scheduled meeting.

“This is a plan we put together regionally to address the things that may happen, we hope they do not,” City Administrator Tony Cox said.

Morristown-Hamblen Emergency Management Agency Director Chris Bell led the process of updating the plan, required every five years.

“FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) requires it in addition to our Emergency Operations Plan,” Bell said.

“It was created approximately 15 years ago. The core component was (that) if we have issues that we need to mitigate … , there is availability in the funds … If we don’t have the plan, nobody gets the funds,” he said.

Bell said for example if the county has a major event, on a larger scale, and the Mitigation Plan is not in place then certain Federal funds for disaster assistance would not be made available.

“The plan is at FEMA right now. The city and county have to adopt it. It is in approval, pending your adoption,” Bell said.

The plan includes a set of goals, the purpose of which is to clearly state the community’s overall vision for hazard mitigation and to provide a path towards building a safer, more resilient community.

All actions or projects recommended as mitigation efforts for the Hazard Mitigation Plan must first meet or further at least one of these goals:

Goal 1: Protect the lives and health of citizens from the effects of natural hazards.

Goal 2: Emphasize mitigation planning to decrease vulnerability of existing and new structures.

Goal 3: Encourage public support and commitment to hazard mitigation, by communicating mitigation benefits.

Hamblen County has developed a comprehensive range of mitigation projects. These projects were solicited and identified by the different entities who make up the Hamblen County Hazard Mitigation Committee.

The projects represent a large investment of financial and personal resources, according to information provided in the Council Agenda materials.

The Mitigation committee reviewed projects identified in the 2018 plan update; some projects were general in nature, while others were specific. Upon review, projects were either kept and moved forward to the 2023 plan or removed due to completion.

An Engineering study for sinkholes was kept. Projects that were kept include Dalton Ford and Reeds Chapel Rd; Old Russellville Pike (Hwy 344), South Cumberland at Parker Road, Tara Subdivision, Old Kentucky Road at Jaybird, Russellville Primary School and Debi Circle (Stubblefield Creek).

The project at Russellville Intermediate School was completed in 2020 and the project on South Cumberland at the Norfolk-Southern railroad tracks was completed in 2021.

The hazard educational program regarding mitigation was kept, but will be renamed. A project named “Road Elevation/Culvert” was kept but renamed to specific areas that need flood reduction.

The project regarding tree limb removal on public right of ways was removed from the list due to not being eligible under the hazard mitigation grant programs.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a pre-disaster flood hazard mitigation and insurance protection program which has reduced the increasing cost of disasters.

The intent of the program is to: require new and substantially improved structures be designed and constructed to minimize or eliminate future flood damage; provide floodplain residents and business owners with financial insurance assistance in the form of insurance after floods, and it transfers most of the cost of private property flood losses from the taxpayers to floodplain property owners through flood insurance premiums.

Participation in the NFIP is based on an agreement between communities and FEMA. To continue compliance with the NFIP, the jurisdictions have identified, analyzed, and prioritized three mitigation strategies to stay active with the program: Continue to evaluate improved standards that are proven to reduce flood damage; Maintaining supplies of FEMA/NFIP materials to help homeowners evaluate measures to reduce damage; and maintaining a map of areas that flood frequently and prioritizing those areas for inspection immediately following heavy rains or flooding event.