S.F. seeks input on natural disasters plan

The city of Santa Fe is seeking public input on the update of a plan that outlines how the city would minimize the impacts of wildfires, floods and other natural disasters.

The so-called Mitigation Plan, which the city and others have been updating for the past 11 months, “identifies hazard mitigation goals and a variety of mitigation projects with the intent of reducing losses from hazard events before they occur again,” the city said in a news release Wednesday.

“The purpose of mitigation is to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from hazards,” the 210-page plan states.

To read or comment on the plan, go to santafenm.gov/mitigation_plan. The comment period runs through April 11.

Kyle Mason, the city’s emergency management director, said the plan includes an annex pertaining to human-caused hazards, such as pandemics and active shooters. But that information isn’t public, he said.

“Those are within my office, but they are classified information for the content that is within them at this time,” he said. “If anybody would like to provide their feedback just generally on what they would like to see in there, we’re more than welcoming to accept those comments and incorporate them into the redacted annex.”

Mason said the city’s emergency operations plan also includes a section on pandemics.

“I’ll be the first to admit that that plan is from 2010 and is not the first thing on people’s mind. Prior to the actual pandemic [stemming from the new coronavirus], we have been working on updating that plan,” he said.

His office has been learning from the current pandemic and is looking forward to learning “how we can best improve our processes and procedures,” Mason added.

Mason said the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which reviews and approves the Mitigation Plan, “has no requirement for human-caused hazards whatsoever.”

“We put an annex in there kind of as an extra thing for our staff and our folks to consider,” he said.