KENNEDALE, Texas — City staff and consultants on Tuesday outlined a draft five-year update to Kennedale's hazard mitigation plan and urged residents to review the document and complete an online or paper survey to inform the final version. Joe Laster, an emergency preparedness consultant, said the update is intended to identify local natural hazards, prioritize mitigation strategies and make the city more competitive for federal grants.

Laster told attendees the draft replaces the 2020/2021 plan and moves the project toward finalization after several planning-team meetings and a public survey launched in late December. "We started this process back in September," he said, and the team aims to finalize the draft in March before submitting it to the Texas Division of Emergency Management for review and possible forwarding to FEMA.

The draft ranks severe weather as Kennedale's top hazard because of its wide geographic impact and frequent occurrence; winter storms, flooding and extreme heat follow. "Severe weather took the cake and took the number 1 ranking," Laster said, noting the rankings are based on local records and could change if new, credible data—such as a rise in local seismic events—appears.

Top mitigation actions identified in the 2026 draft include bioengineered bank stabilization and revetments to reduce stream and river flooding impacts, targeted flood-mitigation projects and installing or improving outdoor warning sirens to enhance alert coverage across the city. Each action entry in the draft lists estimated costs and suggested funding sources, and the plan identifies grant programs such as the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) as likely funding opportunities.

Laster stressed the financial rationale for mitigation planning: a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan makes jurisdictions eligible for federal mitigation grants. He also cited the National Institute of Building Sciences' finding that mitigation investments yield substantial long-term benefits, noting that these benefit-cost considerations guide the plan's priorities.

City staff asked the public to review the plan's critical facilities list and pointed out one omission in the public draft: the library/community center is not yet included and will be added before final submission. Laster said appendices will document public meetings, sign-in sheets and survey results to demonstrate the required community engagement during TDEM and FEMA review.

Kennedale officials said they prepared a city-specific plan rather than adopting the Tarrant County umbrella plan so the document focuses on local priorities; the city will nevertheless continue partnering with Tarrant County and could align with the county process later if desired.

The public can review the draft PDF and the online feedback form at the city's hazard mitigation page (the consultant read the website path during the meeting) and may contact the city for additional information. Staff remained after the presentation to take questions and accept written surveys.

Next steps: the team intends to finalize the draft in March, submit it to the Texas Division of Emergency Management for review and respond to any requested changes before FEMA approval and city adoption.