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2025 Hazard Mitigation Plan Kittitas County, Washington ffitffil CHAPTER 1 . INTRODUCTION The Kittitas County Hazard Mitigation Plan (Plan) was developed to guide the County in a risk-based approach to become more resilient to the impacts of natural hazards through mitigation planning. The Plan documents historical disasters, assesses probabilistic disasters through Hazus-MH and Geographic lnformation System (GlS) analysis, and addresses specific strategies to mitigate the potential impacts of these disasters. This five (5) year update was a collaborative effort among the Kittitas County Core Planning Team and Steering Committee. The Plan accomplishes the following: ldentifies areas of risk and assesses the probability, extent, vulnerability, and impacts for each natural hazard. . Establishes strategies and priorities to mitigate risk from natural hazards. . ldentifies specific mitigation projects to pursue for each identified natural hazard. . Guides the communities in their risk management activities and minimizes conflicts among agencies. o Establishes eligibility for future mitigation program funds. 1.1. PURPOSE OF THE PLAN The Plan identifies activities that can be undertaken by both the public and private sectors to reduce risk to natural hazards, property damage, and economic disruption caused by these hazards. This Plan reviews mitigation activities and selects those that will be most beneficial for Kittitas County. The Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires jurisdictions to develop and maintain a Hazard Mitigation Plan to remain eligible for certain Federal disaster assistance and hazard mitigation funding programs (e.9., Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Building Resilient lnfrastructure and Communities). Renewal of the Plan every five (5) years is required to encourage continual awareness of mitigation strategies. Additionally, communities that participate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Community Rating System (CRS), a voluntary program that reduces National Flood lnsurance Program (NFIP) premiums and are designated as a Category C repetitive loss community, must prepare a Floodplain Management Plan (FMP) or a Repetitive Loss Area Analysis (RLAA). However, the CRS Program allows multi-hazard, and multi-jurisdictional mitigation plans to fulfill this requirement. This Plan fulfills the federal requirements for mitigation funding outlined in 44 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), section 201.6 (44 CFR S 201.6) and United States Code (USC) 42, section 5165 (42 USC S 5165), the CRS Program and provides the jurisdiction with a blueprint for reducing the impacts of natural hazards. 1.2. HAZARD MITIGATION PROGRAM Hazard mitigation is defined as any sustainable action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people, property, and the environment from future disasters. Mitigation planning breaks the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. Hazard mitigation includes long-term solutions that reduce the impact of disasters in the future. a 5Chapter 1 : lntroduction