City of Holyoke looks to update its natural hazards mitigation plan Kayleigh Thomas — WWLP

The City of Holyoke held their first of three listening sessions Wednesday night, it’s a way for the public to learn how they plan on updating their natural hazards mitigation plan.

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – The City of Holyoke held their first of three listening sessions Wednesday night, it’s a way for the public to learn how they plan on updating their natural hazards mitigation plan.

This would be the first time the city has updated its plan since 2016. Climate change will be incorporated into a “Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan”. The plan will outline a set of actions that can be taken to reduce losses of property and life due to natural disasters like floods, winter storms, wildfires, droughts, and extreme heat events. The adverse impacts of invasive species will also be incorporated into the plan for the first time.

“We’re living in a region where the climate is changing very rapidly, even more so than in other places in the globe,” said Holyoke Director of Conversation and Sustainability, Yoni Glogower. “So we have to be prepared for more extreme weather events and invasive species and other changes that might be more intense than what we’re used to in the past.”

This plan will continue to make the City eligible for hazard mitigation assistance grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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