The Adair and Guthrie County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) is currently working on a detailed plan to lessen the effects of hazardous emergencies in the area. The Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan is currently in the process of being finalized.

The plan, which has to be modified every five years, covers a range of topics from county infrastructure to school buildings. Agency Coordinator Bob Kempf talks about the plan and why this one is different than past plans.

“One of the things that we’re doing differently now is, to save money, we’re actually doing the Adair and Guthrie County plan together. So the county, the cities, the school systems, things that are a taxing entity, can sit down and be a member of this plan. They put down ideas that they have, long-range (and) out-of-the-box kind of types of mitigation projects they would like to do.”

Kempf says the plan is required to apply for funds for these projects whenever disaster declarations are made through the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA). To hear more about the plan and other topics from EMA, listen to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program.