The Oswego County Emergency Management Office (EMO) invites the public to participate in community engagement workshops on Tuesday, Aug. 22 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to provide input for the update of the Oswego County Hazard Mitigation Plan. The workshops will be held in-person and virtually.

Oswego County residents, community leaders, area agencies and organizations will have the opportunity to share how extreme weather events impact their property and lives and to share their ideas on how to reduce local impacts in the future.

“Reducing the effects of disasters on our communities is essential to ensuring lives and property are protected during natural hazard events,” said Oswego County Emergency Management Office Director Cathleen Palmitesso. “Our county departments, local agencies and municipality leaders are beginning to update the county’s hazard mitigation plan last adopted in 2020. We encourage members of the community to join the effort.”

Attendees have the option of going to either meeting in-person or joining virtually on Zoom. The workshops will be held in the basement of the Oswego County Emergency Management Office, 200 N. Second St., Fulton. Meeting links for those wishing to attend virtually are available at https://www.oswegocounty.com/departments/public_safety/emergency_management/hazard_mitigation.php.

“These hybrid workshops on Zoom and in-person at the Oswego County Emergency Management Office will be led by Johanna Duffy and Dan Theobald of Barton & Loguidice, D.P.C., the consultant hired for the update through federal and state funding,” said Oswego County Emergency Management Office Emergency Services Program Coordinator Terry Bennett. “They will outline the process to identify and assess hazards, and to identify ways to reduce impact from those hazards.”

Oswego County received a grant through FEMA DR4480 to update the county hazard mitigation plan.

“Since the last plan was updated in 2020, the county has had more significant rain events that caused area flooding and flash flooding, like those that hit the Parish and Mexico areas July 10,” Palmitesso said. “High wind events have also increased in number and severity. It’s important to reassess and determine what new threats we’re facing, as well as how better to mitigate them.”

Hazard mitigation planning develops long-term actions that are intended to reduce loss of life, number and severity of injuries, and damage to property and natural resources.

Each municipality in the county has its own annex to the county plan that focuses on hazards affecting their community. The county plan and municipal annexes can be viewed on the county website at www.oswegocounty.com/emo and clicking on “Hazard Mitigation Plan.”

Also on that web page, interested participants will find a link to a community survey they can complete as an alternative to attending the community workshops on Aug. 22. Paper copies of the survey are also available by calling the Emergency Management Office at 315-591-9150. Once completed, the forms can be mailed to: Oswego County Emergency Management Office, 200 N. Second St., Fulton, NY 13069.

The public can also participate in the plan update by reaching out to their town supervisor or village or city mayor to provide input for upcoming planning meetings.

For more information, call Terry Bennett at the Oswego County Emergency Management Office at 315-591-9160.