Noem re-appoints team to assist counties in mitigation efforts

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem signed an executive order re-appointing the Hazard Mitigation Team. The team consists of representatives from 11 state agencies and other non-governmental personnel and is designed to assist counties in mitigation planning efforts.

“As a State, we need to make sure we’re doing everything possible to help communities recover from this year’s devastating storms, but we also need to better prepare for extreme weather in the future,” said Noem. “The Hazard Mitigation Team is an interagency effort to come alongside counties, communities, and tribes in order to reduce future damage from natural disasters. I’m confident this approach, along with the infrastructure disaster recovery program previously announced, will be incredibly beneficial to local governments as we link arms in this effort.

 
Governor Noem has charged the team with reducing or eliminating the physical, financial, and psychological impacts of natural disasters by implementing programs to reduce the amount of damage incurred following major storms.

The South Dakota Hazard Mitigation Team consists of representatives from the following departments and offices:

• Office of the Governor
• Governor’s Office of Economic Development
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Education – Historic Preservation Office
• Department of Environmental and Natural Resources
• Department of Game, Fish, and Parks 
• Department of Health
• Department of Public Safety – Office of Emergency Management 
• Department of Transportation 
• Department of Tribal Relations
• Bureau of Administration – Risk Management 
• State Climatologist 

This team is led by the state Office of Emergency Management.