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Sherburne County Multi -Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2020 CITY OF BIG LAKE Part A: Past Events & Vulnerability Assessment 1. In the last 5 years, has your community experienced any severe weather or disaster events that posed risk to life safety, caused property damage, or incurred costs for recovery? Yes, we have experienced heavy wind, rain and hail storms that have damaged city facilities and residential homes. In 2oi3 and 203.7 we have had at least two tornados damage areas of Big Lake Townshipjust north of the city. In 2017 we did have a substantial thunderstorm with wind shear that did take down some trees, but again with minimal impact. In 2019, we had a serious issue with the potential loss of natural gas due to capacity issues during severely cold weather. Although our City felt no severe impact, citizens had to turn down heat. The department spent a day preparing for sheltering and evacuation due to prolonged natural gas supply issues. 2. In the last 5 years, has your community taken any particular actions to reduce the vulnerability of your community against future severe weather or disaster events? Yes, in development areas and road reconstructions the City Engineer is ensuring proper drainage. The city has also created a new user-friendly website for information as well as the local Police Department using the NextDoor app and Facebook to keep citizens informed with up-to-date safety tips, information, and critical safety information when appropriate. The City has also begun planning for a Full Time Fire Chief and Emergency Manager to better prepare. In the past 5 years, has anything, especially related to zoning or development, changed that you feel has increased your community's vulnerability to future severe weather or disaster events? Yes, since the last update of the plan there has been approximately Zoo new homes built in the city of Big Lake and around 3.00-3.5o new homes in the township which could have an adverse effect to costs in the event of a tornado, wind or hail event. Heavy construction and growth continues to stretch city resources thinner, which could impact our preparation and post -event needs significantly. 4. What concerns do you have / what mitigation actions do you think would help your community to reduce or eliminate risk against future severe weather or disaster events? I think the community does very well with information and preparedness. The police department monitors all weather and takes appropriate actions based upon the potential for severe weather. Continued education for the local population on preparedness should be ongoing. It would also be beneficial to have a new storm shelter for our local trailer park and a storm shelter for our local school sports complexes. I would like to see a stronger plan in place for those who have no basements, and for our trailer park to ensure all places have quick and immediate access to storm shelters. Page I K - 9