As Butler County awaits what would be its 15th federal disaster declaration in the last 35 years, area officials have begun the process of updating emergency response plans.
More than a dozen officials met the week before the region was hit with historic flooding to make changes to the plan.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires every country to have a hazard mitigation plan and update it every five years. Participation is also a condition for cities, counties and schools to apply for certain federal assistance dollars.
A draft of the Butler County document, created in 2012, will be turned in to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in August, said Matt Winters, associate director of the Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission. OFRPC is overseeing this process and coordinating with all Butler County cities, schools and other necessary agencies.
This effort is designed to be a comprehensive approach to mitigation of the hazards that impact many jurisdictions, Winters said.
"The county and all of the jurisdictions doing this together, it saves on resources. It saves on time and energy. It reduces duplication," Winters explained. "We're all be affected by the same weather. We're all affected by the same natural hazards."
The planning also provides an opportunity to meet and work with a variety of agencies and communities. Response to natural disasters typically brings together residents from across the area.
This is what happened following a deadly tornado in 1927, the 90th anniversary of which is Tuesday (see C section for more information) and last week as up to 450 homes across the county were impacted by the most recent round of flooding.
Tornadoes were included in seven of the 16 major disaster declarations issued since 1965 that included Butler County. Flooding was included in eight of those declarations.
Assessment of the type of disasters which face the county is part of the current planning process.
In addition to risk assessment, communities will be asked to develop mitigation strategies with the participation of government officials, schools, community members and state and regional partners, Winters said.
A review of community capabilities, with an inventory of critical facilities, such as hospitals, will also be updated.
This planning process allows cities, counties and schools to access the Hazard Mitigation Grant program, which helps communities put into place long-term solutions to help reduce the severity of future natural disasters, Winters said.
Butler County has received nearly $7.3 million in hazard mitigation dollars in recent years, he explained.
Projects this money has paid for include voluntary buyouts of property that has been or could be impacted by flooding, and construction of storm safe rooms at Three Rivers College and Poplar Bluff schools.
Information concerning past natural disasters has also been collected by OFRPC for this plan.
Events Butler County has experienced in the last 10 years include:
* 19 drought events and 10 extreme heat events, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
* 55 flooding or flash flooding events that caused five deaths and $11.2 million in property damage, according to FEMA.
* 110 events involving severe weather, including hail, lightning and high winds, which caused two deaths and $10.9 million in property damage, according to the NCDC.
* 15 reported tornadoes, with $955,000 in property damages.
* 46 events of winter weather, heavy snow or extreme cold causing $20.1 million in property damage.
The county also has a 25-40 percent chance of a magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquake in next 50 years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.