The impacts of recent disasters, such as Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and Hurricane Michael in 2018, have illustrated the complexity of recovering from a disaster. 

By planning for disaster recovery before a disaster strikes, Liberty County is able to better coordinate resources, information, and activities, and ultimately, identify and address the needs of survivors more quickly and efficiently. 

Over the last year, community members from public, private, and non-governmental organizations worked together to develop a countywide Disaster Recovery and Redevelopment Plan. 

This plan was completed in July 2019 and adopted by the Liberty County Board of Commissioners in December 2019. 

The purpose of the Disaster Recovery and Redevelopment Plan is to empower Liberty County and its residents to effectively recover from disasters to become more resilient to stressors and shocks in the future. The plan clarifies roles and responsibilities during recovery operations and provides tools and templates for Liberty County to organize, manage, and facilitate recovery and redevelopment activities.  Liberty County will review the plan on an annual basis to incorporate lessons learned and best practices from exercises and real-world incidents and reflect changes to countywide plans, policies, or procedures. 

The Disaster Recovery and Redevelopment Plan was developed and implemented through technical support and grant funding from the Georgia Coastal Management Program, funded by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Liberty County was the eighth county in the State of Georgia to engage in recovery planning as part of a statewide initiative to improve coastal resilience. 

The Disaster Recovery and Redevelopment Plan is an all-hazards plan to help navigate the immediate challenges after a disaster and a long-term guide to help rebuild the community, making this plan a road map for the county to recover and rebuild as quickly and smartly as possible. 

There is nothing we can do to prevent disasters, but we can all commit to preparing for future disasters to make our communities safer in the face of hurricanes, wildfires, and other destructive events. To learn more about disaster preparedness, visit https://gema.georgia.gov/plan-prepare/ready-georgia.