The West Piedmont Planning District Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan update is underway, and the West Piedmont Planning District Commission (WPPDC) is seeking your input for its development. The plan is updated on a five-year basis, with the latest iteration adopted in 2016. The purpose of the plan is to prepare the West Piedmont Planning District to be more resilient to and quickly recover from natural and human-caused hazards that may occur periodically, and to facilitate the region’s localities and agencies to respond appropriately. Events which constitute multi-jurisdictional hazards include flooding, winter storms, tornadoes, dam failures, power outages, chemical spills, and agroterrorism, among others.
Currently, WPPDC staff are in the process of obtaining public input in the development of the Multi-Jurisdictional 
Hazard Mitigation Plan. There are multiple channels through which input can be provided for the plan update. The organization is collecting data via the Hazard Mitigation Plan Community Survey to help determine which hazard mitigation elements are most important to community residents for this plan update. For example, one question asks residents which risks they believe pose the greatest danger to their communities. Another question seeks information about which forms of media residents prefer to receive emergency alerts through. We encourage you to take the Hazard Mitigation Plan Community Survey, which can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/West-Piedmont-Hazard-Survey.
The WPPDC is also collecting input for the plan directly through its website, via the Interactive Hazard Story Map. This interactive feature provides a brief introduction to the plan, the rationale for the development of the plan, how localities can use the plan, as well as its components. 
The Interactive Hazard Story Map also highlights the various types of natural and human-caused hazards that may affect the region, as well as locations in the region in which many of these hazards have occurred in recent years. A very important function of this tool is the ability for users to add to the “Community Map” what they believe to be problem areas, as a means to most effectively utilize stakeholder involvement in the development of the plan. We encourage community residents and stakeholders to review the Interactive Hazard Story Map and provide their input by visiting https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/d50164c9a1324a61bdadcf0649536196. In addition to the Hazard Mitigation Plan Community Survey and the Interactive Hazard Story Map, residents and stakeholders of the region can submit comments directly via email, to plan@wppdc.org, or by mail, to WPPDC, P.O. Box 5268, Martinsville, VA 24115.
A major benefit of the plan is that it will enable local governments in the region to apply for grant funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM), and other agencies related to hazard mitigation, public safety, resiliency, and preparedness.
The WPPDC is accepting comments, via all of the outlets described above, until June 18, and the plan is anticipated to be completed in October. To learn more about the West Piedmont Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, as well as to view the current (2016) plan, please visit http://www.wppdc.org/hazard-mitigation-plan.