Henderson County schedules public hearings for Hazard Mitigation Plan update

Emergency Management Coordinator Shane Renberg told the commissioners the county’s Hazard Mitigation Plan update began about a year ago and follows the five‑year review cycle required to maintain FEMA approval. Renberg said the county’s 2021 plan was approved by FEMA in May 2021 and that the updated plan will be submitted to the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) for review before being resubmitted to FEMA.

Renberg explained two cities — Coffee City and Moore Station — did not provide required information and were dropped from the update for now; he said entities can be added back later but doing so requires substantial changes to the plan because much of the 600–700 page document is driven by compiled numbers for each jurisdiction. "The purpose of these two hearings is that we're required to have public, give the public a chance to comment on this plan or give us suggestions of what they would like to see in the plan," Renberg said.

The court set two public hearings to receive comment related to the Hazard Mitigation Plan update: March 10 at 09:10 a.m. and March 17 at 09:10 a.m. The hearings will be advertised in the paper and posted on the county website; following public comment, staff will make final edits, submit to TDEM, and then forward to FEMA. The motion to set the hearings was made by Commissioner McCam, seconded and approved unanimously.

Renberg also noted the public survey results were incorporated into the draft, and that amending the plan to add an entity later would be possible but resource intensive. The court thanked staff for performing the update in‑house and noted that outsourcing similar updates can be costly.