Lakewood advisory committee hears hazard-mitigation plan overview ahead of 2025 approval

Nathan Johnson, Emergency Management Coordinator for the West Emergency Management Coalition, presented an overview of Lakewood's hazard mitigation plan to the Public Safety Advisory Committee at its meeting. He said the local annex is one element of a broader set of emergency-management documents that together form the jurisdiction's comprehensive emergency management plan.

Johnson said the city's hazard mitigation annex currently exceeds 200 pages and is reviewed every five years. "This plan is how the city looks at the identified hazards and what steps the city takes to mitigate that impact on residents," he said, describing the plan's role in securing federal mitigation and post-disaster recovery funding.

The coordinator explained the plan's major sections: a profile of community characteristics, capability identification, threat and hazard identification (THIRA), a risk assessment that produces a quantitative risk score, mitigation strategy development tied to specific infrastructure and community vulnerabilities, and an annual maintenance schedule for updates. He listed hazards ranging from natural events (flooding, severe storms, seismic) to man-made risks (cyber incidents, active shooter scenarios).

Johnson outlined the approval and implementation process: jurisdictions submit annexes to the Pierce County plan lead for integration, the County forwards materials to the state emergency management authority, and then the document is reviewed by FEMA (Region 10/FEMA) or the appropriate FEMA office for pre-approval. "Once it's approved by FEMA the city's governing body approves it," he said, and identified that approval as a prerequisite for federal mitigation grants and post-disaster recovery funding.

Committee members asked how to access the current plan and provide input. Presenters said the prior plan (about five years old) is a public document; they will send the existing document to committee members and aim to make the updated draft available on the West Pierce Emergency Management Coalition website for public review and comment. The presenters encouraged committee members and residents to submit hazard or mitigation items by email so they can be incorporated into the draft.

Next steps: the coalition will prepare the updated annex for public comment, present it to city council for approval, submit it to the state, seek FEMA pre-approval, and, if approved, begin implementing identified mitigation measures over subsequent years. The committee was advised the timeline aims for approval in 2025 and that funding availability will determine which mitigation actions proceed immediately and which enter longer-term work plans.