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NEWS RELEASE
September 28, 2012
For further information, contact:
Rick Osborn, Public Information Officer, Benton County Board of Commissioners
(541) 766-6082, rick.osborn@co.benton.or.us
County releases natural hazard progress report
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A report outlining Benton County’s progress regarding natural hazard mitigation and response is available for public review.
The Community Rating System progress report – which examines progress in the Benton County Multi-Jurisdictional Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan – is available online at http://www.co.benton.or.us/sheriff/ems/hazard/documents/annualprogressreport_000.pdf.
The Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan, adopted by a resolution of the Benton County Board of Commissioners in January 2011, is the product of a community effort that included steering committee discussions and examination of potential natural hazards and ways to mitigate them. Topics include multi-hazard response, earthquakes, flooding, landslides, winter storms, wind storms, wildfire and drought.
Benton County has taken a variety of actions over the last year to incorporate activities called for in the Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan and those are outlined in the recently released Progress Report. They include the following:
Implementing actions defined in the Community Wildfire Protection Plan;
Identifying hazardous trees for failure potential;
Elevating some stretches of highway; and
Educating homeowners about structural and non-structural retro-fitting for vulnerable homes in preparation for earthquake.
Benton County submits this report annually and continues to take steps outlined in the Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan to maintain and improve its Community Rating System ranking. Currently Benton County has a 6 rating with CRS, which is among the highest in the state and results in lower costs to county property owners for flood insurance.
The complete adopted Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan can be viewed online at http://www.co.benton.or.us/sheriff/ems/hazard/documents/2011_nhmp_021711.pdf.
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