Jefferson County officials asked residents to chime in on potential hazards to their communities to help secure mitigation funding in the future.

The county sent out its Hazard Mitigation Plan Survey on Saturday, asking residents to categorize the risk levels of certain natural disasters in their areas. These included floods, severe wind, hail and extreme heat.

The survey comes as the county is updating its 2022 iteration of the mitigation plan in collaboration with local municipalities, special districts and other community organizations.

The survey also asks what the biggest worries are after a disaster, like lack of food and water, emergency communications and transportation.

The plan must be updated and approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) every five years to maintain eligibility for hazard mitigation funding like elevating buildings in flood zones, programs to reduce wildfires and utility hardening.

“This community plan documents the overall mitigation strategy and specific mitigation actions and projects that our communities would like to implement to increase resiliency to future disaster events,” the county said.

The survey comes a week after Jefferson County was struck by harsh winds, causing Xcel Energy to shut off power to over 48,000 residents, with over 160,000 people losing power throughout the week. High winds are part of the survey.

The survey can be found at https://bit.ly/HMPJeffCo.