HAWLEY — The Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee requests resident input during a public meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Hawley Town Office.
The 10-person committee will be working to update the town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan, which needs to be turned into the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) in June 2020, according to a recent press release.
The town’s three Selectboard members, as well as representatives from the town’s Fire Department, Highway Department, Emergency Services and town offices, are all on the committee.
“Some of the issues (from the 2014 plan) have been addressed,” said Selectboard Chair Hussain Hamdan, who cited improving the embankment behind the Highway Garage, which is adjacent to a river, as well as improving culverts throughout town. “I think there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
A large part of hazard mitigation is prevention work, reducing “the risks posed by occurrences like floods, high wind events and blizzards, just to name a few,” the press release reads. Cleaning culverts, trimming trees to protect power lines and improving infrastructure are preventative steps that Hawley may take to improve readiness to respond to potential disasters.
Cassandra Nawrocki, administrative assistant for Hawley, noted that flooding, storms, high winds, wild fires and earthquakes are some of the environmental and climate-related events that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and MEMA would like a hazard mitigation plan to address.
From the town’s 2014 Hazard Mitigation Plan, Hawley has taken steps to protect itself from environmental disaster, said Hamdan, like assessing and maintaining culverts and trimming trees along power lines.
Beyond infrastructure, the committee has reached out to Hawley residents.
“We have worked to survey our residents about what needs they have in case of a disaster,” Hamdan said, who gave the example of noting which residents’ water runs using electricity and who lacks a backup generator.
This survey has helped Hawley’s Fire Department and Emergency Services “to identify who needs the most help and to get them that help expeditiously” in case of a natural disaster, Hamdan said.
Going forward, the town will look into improving emergency communication.
“Another thing we’re really working on is improving our safety communication system and to increase interoperability with the two neighboring counties,” Hamdan said, noting that the emergency services in Berkshire and Franklin counties operate on a different radio system than the one used in Hawley.
Hurricane Irene hit in 2011, and Nawrocki remembers it greatly impacted Hawley.
“Hawley was really hit hard. It was completely isolated for a period of time, and part of that has to do with (Hawley’s) unique topography,” she recalled. She said the “dramatic increase in topography” that splits the town in two impacted water drainage, which washed away roads and restricted travel.
“There’s no way to have prevented all of the damage that happened (from Hurricane Irene),” Hamdan said. “But there are still a bunch of steps to take to reduce (Hawley’s) risk exposure should an event of that magnitude happen again.”
The committee also welcomes written comments, which should be directed to the Hazard Mitigation Plan Committee and mailed to Hawley Town Office, 8 Pudding Hollow Road, Hawley MA 01339. Emailed comments can be directed to info@townofhawley.com, with the subject line: Hazard Mitigation Plan Committee.
Reach Maureen O’Reilly at moreilly@recorder.com or at 413-772-0261, ext. 280.