Floods, earthquakes, radon, oh my god: Utah’s risk mitigation plan gets an update

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Utah’s risk mitigation plan is getting an update, and the state wants your input.

The latest review from the Utah Department of Emergency Management was published in 2019 and covers everything from floods and wildfires to cyber attacks and solar flares.

The last plan was published four years ago, and the latest version has been in the works since then.

“Once you finish the plan, you start working on the next iteration of the plan,” said Cathy Holder, the state’s risk mitigation officer.

Part of the process is the general input. A community survey, open through June 6, asked Utahns to rank the severity of various risks and identify ways the state can help mitigate those risks. According to Holder, this is to find out what worries Utah the most and to identify any blind spots — especially in rural areas.

“When we reach out to the community, we may see some other things that we need to add to our plans that aren’t already there,” she said. “One of the things I really focus on is seeing how disasters affect rural communities and what their mitigation needs are. Often times they don’t have the resources to help plan or help implement mitigation or even recovery actions.”

Each community’s needs can be different and local emergency managers can have a lot on their plate.

“My focus is on any disaster facing me at any given moment,” said George Coulson, Iron County Emergency Director. “I’m thinking now of the July and August monsoon floods. I’m preparing for that. And we’re preparing for bushfire season. I got paid to think about it, and [the public] In general it leaves me free to think about it.”

Per FEMA guidelines, the state of Utah obtains a new hazard plan every five years.

According to Holder, one of the biggest dangers that Yotan worried about in the past were earthquakes. Magna experienced a record-breaking 5.7-magnitude earthquake in 2020. With the Wasatch Fault line cutting through the northern half of the state and other fault lines crossing the southern half, this risk is justified throughout Utah.

“The biggest earthquake for our county is the earthquake,” Coulson said. “That is why we are doing earthquake training in June, because that will be the most destructive for my county.”

Besides earthquakes, another problem that has largely flown under the radar is radon.

“The interesting thing is that radon is actually one of the issues that we have in our plan, and we’re taking note of it,” Holder said. “But more often than not I think the public cares that it’s our number one issue here in Utah.”

According to a 2022 report, radon can be in one in three Utah homes and has been responsible for an estimated 5,826 deaths since 1973.

With drought afflicting most parts of the state in the past years and leaving us with a record winter, large parts of the state are now experiencing flooding. This means that water issues may start to take center stage.

“We’ve had more avalanches, landslides because of the water content, flooding going on, debris flows happening,” Holder said. “So I think because we’re doing this outreach during this time that’s going to be on people’s minds.”

The new state’s risk mitigation plan needs FEMA approval before it goes into effect in 2024.

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