Responding to federal mandates in the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390), the City of Covington applied for and was awarded a planning grant funded by FEMA to develop a Hazard Mitigation Plan. With assistance from a technical consultant, the City has now embarked on a planning process to prepare for impacts of natural disasters, which will take approximately 6-9 months to complete.

During this process, citizens will be asked to contribute by sharing local knowledge of the area’s vulnerability to hazards based on past occurrences.

The public is highly encouraged to provide input on all phases of this plan’s development. Public involvement will be solicited via a multi-media campaign that will include public meetings, web-based information, questionnaires and updates on the plans progress via the news media. This process will be overseen by a steering committee made up of stakeholders from within the planning area.

The steering committee will meet as needed on the third Tuesday of every month at Covington City Hall, 16720 SE 271st St. These meetings will typically run from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and are open to the public.

Any questions or comments regarding this process are encouraged and should be directed to Shellie Bates at the City of Covington Public Works Department by phone (253) 480-2463 or email sbates@covingtonwa.gov. An informational website on the plan and purposes for planning has also been established at www.covingtonwa.gov/hazardmitigation/index.html.