Because I was asked to:
The Watauga County Emergency Management Office and local governments encourage the public to take an online survey as part of an update of the High Country Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan.
The plan aims to make the region, including Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga and Wilkes counties, less vulnerable to natural disasters. The purpose of the Hazard Mitigation Plan is to determine how to best minimize or manage disaster risks.
A Hazard Mitigation Plan must be in place for Watauga and other regional counties to be eligible for federal funding in the event of a disaster, said Taylor Marsh, assistant county fire marshal.
"Every five years we have to update the Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan and resubmit the plan to FEMA for approval," Marsh said.
The survey questionnaire provides an opportunity for the public to share opinions and participate in the mitigation planning process. The information will help officials better understand hazard concerns and can lead to mitigation activities to help lessen the impact of future hazard events.
The survey asks respondents about the types of natural disasters they are most concerned about, whether or not they have flood insurance, what steps they have taken to make their homes more resistant to hazards and the importance of various community activities related to reducing hazard risks.
If you want to conduct a survey and don't have any money (or want to spend your money on something else) then just put your survey online and go to the media and ask people to take it. Your response rate will be very low but you might get enough data from your mitigation plan.
It seems I'm most worried about snow/ice storms and forest fires. I consider technological and natural mitigation very important:
