University's Hazard Mitigation Plan Ready for Public Input

Published

The final draft of UL Lafayette’s Hazard Mitigation Plan is ready for public viewing. The draft has been developed through the Disaster Resistant University (DRU) grant program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

UL Lafayette officials have been working to develop a comprehensive hazard mitigation plan that includes a risk assessment and a hazard mitigation strategy to identify projects that will reduce the risk of loss of life, injury, and property damage from future natural and man-made disasters.

An advisory committee made up of university and non-university stakeholders have coordinated the planning process and included some very valuable input. The draft plan addresses 13 hazards: drought, extreme temperature-cold, extreme temperature-heat, flood, hazardous materials release-fixed site, hazardous materials release-transportation, high wind-hurricane, high wind-tornado, thunderstorms, acts of violence, transportation incidents, terrorism and communicable diseases.

Under the leadership of the university’s National Incident Management Systems and Advanced Technologies (NIMSAT) Institute, UL Lafayette officials have developed a strategic plan to address mitigation efforts on campus and to identify projects that will reduce the risk of loss of life, injury and property damage from future disasters, both natural and man-made.

Public input is strongly encouraged and will be incorporated into the plan.

The final draft plan is available for public review on campus at Duprè Library, located at 400 East Saint Mary Boulevard until Jan. 14, 2010. The draft is available upon request to all students, faculty, staff and general public at the library’s Circulation Desk on the first floor. For information regarding the draft plan, contact the library Circulation Desk at (337) 482-6025 or the Reference Desk at (337) 482-6030 or reference@louisiana.edu.

On the first few pages of this draft, there are spaces available for comments and contact information (optional). These comments can be emailed to Melissa Axley at maxley@wittassociates.com.

For more information on future hazard mitigation plan meetings or on DRU, contact Dr. Ramesh Kolluru at the NIMSAT Institute at (337) 482-0611.