13 - RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE 2017 LAMAR COUNTY MITIGATION PLAN

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Lamar County Multi - Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Chapter One CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION 1.1 PLAN PURPOSE According to FEMA, Mitigation Plans form the foundation for a community's long -term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. The planning process is as important as the plan itself. It creates a framework for risk - based decision making to reduce damages to lives, property, and the economy in the event of a disaster. Hazard mitigation is sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long -term risk to people and their property from hazards. (Source: http: / /www.fema.gov /plan /mitplanning /index.shtm) State, Indian Tribal, and local governments are required to develop a hazard mitigation plan as a condition for receiving certain types of non - emergency disaster assistance, including funding for mitigation projects. The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public Law 93 -288), as amended by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, provides the legal basis for State, local, and Indian Tribal governments to undertake a risk -based approach to reducing risks from natural hazards through mitigation planning. The Lamar County Multi- jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan will address the following objectives: • What hazards might occur in Lamar County, Texas? • What is the history of natural hazards in Lamar County, Texas? • What were the natural hazards impact on Lamar County and the severity of the impact? • How vulnerable is Lamar County, Texas to future natural hazards occurring? • What natural hazards are the greatest risk in Lamar County, Texas? • What are the prioritized mitigation action plans for Lamar County, Texas? 1.2 COMMUNITY PROFILE Lamar County is located in north Texas on the Oklahoma border. Paris, The county's largest town and the county seat, is about 100 miles northeast of Dallas. In 2010, the population was 48,499 (54% urban, 46% rural) . The county seat and largest city in the County is Paris with a population of 27,755. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 932 square miles (2,413.9 km), of which 917 square miles (2,375.0 km) is land and 15 square miles (38.8 km) (1.68 %) is water. The county's center point is 33 °40' north latitude and 95 °35' west longitude. The terrain is gently rolling; the elevation ranges between 400 and 635 feet above sea level. 8 FIGURE 1.1 LOCATION OF LAMAR COUNTY IN TEXAS