Santee Sioux Nation 2023 Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines hazard mitigation as, “any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to life and property from natural hazards.” Another way to understand hazard mitigation is as the prevention component of the emergency management process. (see figure)
- Preparedness activities are the emergency plans, training, drills, and exercises that individuals, communities and first responders participate in on almost a daily basis. These are things done to get ready for an emergency or disaster before it happens.
- Preparedness activities are the emergency plans, training, drills, and exercises that individuals, communities and first responders participate in on almost a daily basis. These are things done to get ready for an emergency or disaster before it happens.
- Response is the short-term, emergency actions taken to address the immediate impacts of a hazard event or disaster.
- Recovery is the longer-term process of restoring the community back to normal or pre-disaster conditions.
- Mitigation, or prevention, activities are actions that will prevent or eliminate losses, even if an incident does occur. Mitigation can reduce or eliminate the need for an emergency response and greatly reduce the recovery period.
To address hazard mitigation in the Santee Sioux Nation, the Tribe is in the process of developing a 2023 Tribal Hazard Mitigation Plan (THMP).
Flood, fire, and severe weather are just a few of the natural hazards of concern to the Santee Sioux Nation. While natural hazards such as these cannot be prevented, an THMP forms the foundation for a community's long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses by breaking the repeated cycle of disaster damage and reconstruction. Communities with a FEMA- approved LHMP are eligible for FEMA pre- and post-disaster grant funding and are better positioned to respond and recover when disasters occur.
The LHMP development 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 from future disasters.
2023 LHMP
- The Santee Sioux Nation is kicking off their LHMP with meetings in late May of 2023. The THMP will address hazards of concern to the Tribe, will assess the likely impacts of these hazards to the people and assets of the Tribe’s planning area, and will also establish hazard mitigation goals and prioritize mitigation actions and projects to reduce the impacts of future disasters on people and property as well as to critical facilities and infrastructure.
Opportunities for Input
- Members of the community have a very important role in this process. A draft of the 2023 LHMP will be available on this website in fall 2023 for review and comment by the public and all interested stakeholders.
- Planning committee and public meetings will also be held as part of the plan development process. In addition to plan participation by the Santee Sioux Nation; Knox County and neighboring jurisdictions; neighboring tribes; local, state, and federal agencies; and other key stakeholders, the public is encouraged to attend and participate in our planning and public meetings.
Planning Committee Meeting Public Meeting
June 7th 2023 1:30pm-3:30pm June 7th 2023 5:00pm-7:00pm
Tribal Council Headquarters Isanti Community Schools-Library
108 Spirit Lake Ave W. 206 Frazier Ave East
Niobrara, NE 68760
Niobrara, NE 68760
Planning Committee Meeting Public Meeting
November 15th, 2023, 1:30-3:00 pm November 15th 2023 1:30-3:00pm
Tribal Council Headquarters Tribal Council Headquarters
108 Spirit Lake Ave W. 108 Spirit Lake Ave W.
Niobrara, NE 68760 Niobrara, NE 68760
Niobrara, NE 68760
For more information on this project and how to be involved, contact Vice-Chairman Kameron Runnels at (402) 857-2772 or at kameron.runnels@ssndakota.com