Frederick is expected to adopt Frederick County’s plan to address the risks created by changes in climate patterns.
The city’s aldermen are scheduled to approve a resolution at their workshop Wednesday to adopt the latest version of the Frederick County Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan, the county’s analysis of the possible dangers of climate change.
The plan is designed to try to prevent damage from floods and other weather events by examining where communities are vulnerable to natural hazards. The idea is to set up a long-term strategy for how to address them that takes climate change into account.
This is the newest version of the plan, after previous versions were adopted in 2010 and 2017, said Nathan Hupp, a safety, security, and emergency preparedness specialist in the city’s Risk, Safety and Compliance Department.
Adopting the plan will allow the city to apply for grants, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation program and Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant, he said.
The latest version of the plan includes analysis of floods that aren’t related to a specific body of water, use of data to evaluate where dangerous events could have disproportionate impacts, and other climate adaptation elements meant to reduce risk to the community.
The city has been prone to flooding, which has caused heavy damage in the downtown area and other parts of the city.
In May 2018, a storm dropped 3.27 inches of rain on the city between 7 and 9 p.m., causing heavy flooding and damage in downtown and other areas.
The city is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a series of projects to help reduce flooding.
In March, it was announced that Frederick will get nearly $535,000 for a Motter Avenue flood mitigation project from a federal funding bill.
The hazard mitigation plan will be part of a larger community climate action plan that will be a joint project between the city and the county, said Jenny Willoughby, the sustainability manager for the city.
That work is expected to start in the fall, she said.
The mitigation plan tries to identify risks to county facilities and make sure county departments have plans to address them, said Shannon Moore, the director of sustainability and environmental resources for Frederick County.
She said her office worked closely with the county’s Division of Emergency Management and the municipalities in the county to put the plan together.
The community plan will look at how to manage and reduce emissions, as well as put together a plan for dealing with floods, heat events and other climate-related dangers, Moore said.
“There’s lots of different ways that things can get considered,” she said.
Follow Ryan Marshall on Twitter: @RMarshallFNP
