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Eugene -Springfield Area Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan Movies for Mitigation By Amanda Siok. FEMA Region 10 Earthquake Program Manager tile Our June 2018 Newsletter featured a story on the City of Eugene, Oregon's public outreach efforts for their hazard mitigation plan. Since then, the City has been increasing their reach and expanding their audience in an effort to really learn what their residents want to do to reduce their vulnerability to natural hazards. In cooperation with the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB), City of Springfield, Rainbow Water District, and Springfield Utility Board (SUB), they hosted a "Disaster Movie in the Park" this August. Using a local park, the city set up voting tables where residents of all ages could vote on specific mitigation projects they want the city to complete. The publicly prioritized projects will feed directly into the plan's hazard mitigation strategy (Elements C4 and C5). The city had other engaging booths set up for the public to visit. Residents could sign up for Map Your Neighborhood, win prizes by spinning the Water & Electric Board wheel, and learn about mitigation, CRS, and the city's flood programs. By the time the sun went down, the disaster film "San Andreas" was queued up, the popcorn was ready, and 150 people had voted on Figure B-4. Disaster Movie in the Park mitigation projects. Before the film began, Jessica Gourley with Eugene Emergency Management briefly spoke to the audience about reducing vulnerability to disasters and the value of proactively strengthening the city's infrastructure. Once the movie was over, many residents commented on wanting to prevent damage to their homes and workplaces. An approved Hazard Mitigation Plan must "document how the public was involved in the planning process during the drafting stage" (Element A3- Local, A2 Tribal). Eugene's efforts met this requirement because the public helped to prioritize the hazards of concern that the city "should be stronger against". In fact, the city of Eugene went above and beyond minimum requirements to fully engage input from the public. The city of Eugene has done a tremendous job obtaining buy -in to the mitigation message, meaningfully engaging the public in their mitigation plan, and making the required plan update a worthwhile process to increase the resilience of the city. Kudos to Jessica and the rest of the Eugene Emergency Management Team! 6. Appendices 6-32 January 2020