Butler County updates emergency plans amid 15th disaster in 35 years

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — As Butler County awaits what would be its 15th federal disaster declaration in the last 35 years, area officials have begun updating emergency-response plans.

More than a dozen officials met the week before the region was hit with historic flooding to make changes to the plan.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires each country to have a hazard-mitigation plan and update it every five years. Participation also is a condition for cities, counties and schools to apply for certain federal-assistance dollars.

A draft of the Butler County document, created in 2012, will be turned in to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in August, said Matt Winters, associate director of the Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission.

OFRPC is overseeing the process and coordinating with all Butler County cities, schools and necessary agencies.

This effort is designed to be a comprehensive approach to mitigating hazards that affect many jurisdictions, Winters said.

“The county and all of the jurisdictions doing this together, it saves on resources. It saves on time and energy. It reduces duplication,” Winters said. “We’re all being affected by the same weather. We’re all affected by the same natural hazards.”

The planning also provides an opportunity to meet and work with agencies and communities. Response to natural disasters typically brings together residents from across the area.

This is what happened after a deadly tornado in 1927, the 90th anniversary of which is Tuesday, and last week, as up to 450 homes across the county were affected by the most recent round of flooding.

Tornadoes were included in seven of 16 major disaster declarations issued since 1965 that included Butler County. Flooding was included in eight declarations.

Assessment of the type of disasters that face the county is part of the planning process.

Communities also will be asked to develop mitigation strategies with participation from government officials, schools, community members and state and regional partners, Winters said.

A review of community capabilities, with an inventory of critical facilities, such as hospitals, also will be updated.

This planning allows cities, counties and schools to access the Hazard Mitigation Grant program, which helps communities put into place long-term solutions to help reduce the severity of future natural disasters, Winters said.

Butler County has received nearly $7.3 million in hazard-mitigation dollars in recent years, he explained.

Projects this money has paid for include voluntary buyouts of property that has been or could be affected by flooding and building storm safe rooms at Three Rivers College and Poplar Bluff schools.

Information about past natural disasters also has been collected by OFRPC for the plan.

Events Butler County has experienced in the last 10 years include:

• 19 drought events and 10 extreme heat events, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
• 55 flooding or flash-flooding events that caused five deaths and $11.2 million in property damage, according to FEMA.
• 110 events involving severe weather, including hail, lightning and high winds, that caused two deaths and $10.9 million in property damage, according to the NCDC.
• 15 reported tornadoes, with $955,000 in property damages.
• 46 events of winter weather, heavy snow or extreme cold, causing $20.1 million in property damage.

The county also has a 25 percent to 40 percent chance of a magnitude 6.0 or greater earthquake in the next 50 years, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.