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Consultant outlines updated vulnerability assessment, urges applications for state flood‑mitigation funding
Summary
Dewberry consultant Hannah Hart presented an updated county vulnerability assessment, explained new watershed modeling and FEMA‑compliant documentation, and said staff has begun submitting applications for implementation grants due Sept. 1; Dewberry noted Jackson County faces no local match requirement for design and construction on eligible projects.
Hannah Hart of Dewberry told the Jackson County Board of County Commissioners that Dewberry completed an updated vulnerability assessment to meet revised statutory time horizons and to move into adaptation planning. She described a watershed model intended to improve flood‑analysis accuracy, more than 200 asset maps embedded with FEMA‑compliant photos, and sensitivity scores for assets under 25‑, 100‑ and 500‑year storm scenarios.
"We went out individually to every community that participated," Hart said, describing in‑person asset review and field surveys that produced photographic documentation embedded in the project database. She said that approach will make FEMA applications easier by documenting pre‑storm conditions for county and participating communities.
Hart outlined candidate mitigation projects the county is preparing to apply for, including bridge and culvert improvements along County Road 162 and mitigation at Chattery Road in Caverns Park. She said two applications had already been started and that the implementation‑grant applications are due Sept. 1. Hart added that the legislature awarded $160,000,000 for projects this year and that Jackson County’s portion of the program currently does not require a local match for design and construction.
Commissioners pressed Dewberry staff about the scope of candidate projects and DEP feedback. Hart said DEP advised separating bridge improvements from culvert and roadway work for application scoring, and Dewberry planned field evidence collection (stain lines, photos) and coordination with FDOT and DEP to strengthen justifications for bridge work.
The presentation concluded with Dewberry confirming the county will move into the adaptation planning stage, which includes initial design and survey funding in the grant application package.
