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<br />State of Wyoming 1268-DR-WY <br />Hazard Mitigation Survey Team Report <br /> <br />Although FEMA 1268-DR-WY was not a flooding event, the HMST did identify that enrollment <br />and participation in the NFIP where appropriate is a very important mitigation measure and <br />should be emphasized where possible. <br /> <br />Project Impact <br /> <br />The State of Wyoming has been proactive in pre-disaster mitigation with their Project Impact <br />success in Fremont (1998) and Natrona (1999) Counties. <br /> <br />Project Impact: Building a Disaster Resistant Community is an initiative developed by the <br />Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to change the way America deals with <br />disasters. Project Impact involves saving lives, building stronger communities, saving jobs, and <br />reducing damage to property from winter storms and other natural disasters. <br /> <br />No community is safe from natural disasters; they can happen anywhere, anytime. The cost is <br />staggering - in human and economic terms. Project Impact encourages communities to come <br />together before disasters occur in order to build public and private partnerships, identify risks, <br />prioritize needs and implement long term plans to protect themselves. <br /> <br />In 1997 seven Project Impact pilot communities were initiated in order to demonstrate the <br />economic benefits of taking measures to prevent or reduce property loss before a disaster strikes. <br />Each community has embraced the Project Impact model and begun the long-term collaborative <br />work of protecting residents where they live and work. One hundred-eighteen (118) <br />communities have been invited to become Project Impact communities. Hundreds of businesses <br />have been recruited to be Project Impact partners and the list of active businesses is growing <br />daily. These pilot communities have had great success in bringing local officials and businesses <br />together to make their communities disaster resistant. <br /> <br />Four steps have been outlined to help capitalize on positive forces already at work. Project <br />Impact encourages forming partnerships, assessing risk, prioritizing needs, and improving <br />communication to build a disaster resistant community. The Federal Emergency Management <br />Agency has produced a guidebook that is meant to be a framework of ideas and examples for the <br />community to follow. Communities Imow best what risks they face, and their capability to <br />mitigate, prepare, respond and recover from a disaster. <br /> <br />Our country has to change the way we deal with disasters or we are doomed to pay for poor <br />planning in lost lives and property, over and over again. We must put an end to the "disaster- <br />rebuild-disaster" cycle. The goal of Project Impact is to change the way America prevents and <br />prepares for disasters. <br /> <br />7 <br />