Hannibal Kicks Off Project Impact Initiative
Release Date: March 15, 2000
Release Number: R7-00-07
» 2000 Region VII News Releases
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Local, state and federal partners will come together Friday, March 17, 2000, at 11 a.m., at the Hannibal Inn to discuss strategies to make Hannibal a safer, more disaster-resistant community.
"The fact is, we have the opportunity to cut losses, the know-how to reduce risks and the responsibility to save lives. Through Project Impact we are working with our state and local partners to shift emergency management from responding to disasters to working actively to prevent damage -- before disaster strikes," said John A. Miller, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region VII, which includes the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
This community convening was prompted by Hannibal's invitation to participate as a FEMA Project Impact community. Project Impact: Building Disaster Resistant Communities is a nationwide initiative that challenges communities to undertake actions that protect families, businesses and the general public by reducing the effects of natural disasters.
The Project Impact initiative is shifting the focus from simply responding to disasters to taking actions in advance to prevent their potentially devastating effects. Project Impact began in 1997 with seven pilot communities and now has nearly 200 designated communities and over 1,100 business partners throughout the United States.
Participants will have the opportunity in coming weeks to review local hazard analysis data and explore opportunities to leverage local resources, talent, and potential partners to turn the strategies into projects and programs that will make Hannibal more disaster resistant.
The focus of this meeting will be the significance of the Project Impact designation, mitigation activities conducted, opportunities and plans for future projects and partnering between private sector and government entities.
Last Modified: Monday, 15-Dec-2003 12:21:42