They've seen fire and they've seen rain

Sullivan County just released a draft of its emergency Hazard Mitigation Plan, based on several years' worth of public meetings, questionnaires and planning sessions with towns and villages.

According to the county's best estimates, if disaster's going to strike, it will probably be in the form of flood, fire or severe storms. Based on a ranking that rates potential disasters by likelihood and severity, flooding emerged as the biggest threat to Sullivan County overall. (To which a longtime resident will probably state the obvious: "Well, duh.")

A few other tidbits from the report:

-Sullivan County suffers an estimated $96,000 in loss due to flood damage every year, on average -- two-thirds of which occurs in the Town of Rockland.

-Between 1953 and 2007, more Presidential Disaster Declarations were issued for flooding in Delaware, Ulster and Sullivan Counties than for any other counties in New York State.

-Natural gas drilling on the horizon may have a lot of locals worried about water quality and other hazards, but it doesn't loom very large in this hazard plan. The report doesn't analyze the potential impacts of explosions or water contamination, since they haven't historically been much of a problem. Planners have largely punted the issue down the road, noting that during the next 5-year hazard management plan process, "it will be imperative that this section be reviewed and expanded further in the future."

Want to check out the plan for yourself? Here it is, via Scribd. (How many people actually bother to read the PDFs we post? Hopefully somebody out there does. We're suckers for primary-source documents.) And if you'd like to comment on the plan, you can give county planners your $0.02 on Tuesday, September 7^th at 5:30 p.m. in the Government Center, 100 North Street, Monticello, New York, 2^nd floor Legislative Hearing Room.

Hat tip to the Catskill Chronicle.

2010 Hazard Mitigation Plan DRAFT