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2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan <br />Kittitas County, Washington <br /> <br /> <br />Chapter 4: Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment 101 <br />Estimating drought probability and frequency continues to be difficult, regardless of the improvements in <br />science and technology. According to the 2023 Washington State Enhanced Hazard Mitigation Plan, the <br />probability of future drought related disaster declarations each year will increase by 24% in the State.109F <br />109 <br /> <br />The drought annualized frequency value represents the average number of recorded drought hazard <br />occurrences, in event days, per year over the period of record (22 years). Table 4-43 outlines the <br />annualized frequency for drought, based on FEMA NRI data, for Kittitas County. <br />Table 4-43. Drought Annualized Frequency for Kittitas County <br />(FEMA National Risk Index) <br />Location Events on Record <br />(2000 – 2021) Annualized Frequency <br />Kittitas County 546 14.8 events per year <br />Annualized frequency is defined as the expected frequency or probability of a hazard occurrence per year. <br />4.6.3.5. Past Events <br />Droughts reoccur every few years. Unlike other hazards (e.g., floods and earthquakes), droughts are not <br />easily defined as “events”. Kittitas County has experience multiple droughts between 2013 and 2023, as <br />illustrated in Figure 4-9.110F <br />110 One (1) drought Emergency Declaration has been issued for Kittitas County <br />between 1964 and 2023. <br />Figure 4-9. U.S. Drought Monitor Time Series for Kittitas County <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />109 Washington State Emergency Management Division. (2023). Washington State Enhanced Hazard Mitigation <br />Plan. Retrieved from https://mil.wa.gov/asset/651ec296d76a9/2023_WA_SEHMP_final_20231004.pdf . <br />110 U.S Drought Monitor. (n.d.). Time Series (Kittitas County, WA). Retrieved from <br />https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DmData/TimeSeries.aspx.