Flooding.
Snowstorms.
And wind.
Though the order varies depending on the town, those are the top three natural threats Schoharie County is likeliest to face–and needs to prepare for now.
That’s what representatives from Schoharie, Wright, and Middleburgh heard Thursday from LaBella’s Jason Pristach, part of the team working on FEMA-required updates to the county’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.
After floods, snow and wind?
Landslides and ice storms, winter weather, and tornadoes.
The LaBella updates are still a draft; the session was a chance for municipal leaders and others to “proof” what they’ve put together so far, Mr. Pristach said, “and make sure it’s useful for you.”
In addition to vulnerabilities and risks, the HMP identifies critical facilities–places like school, libraries, airports, and emergency shelters where people might go for information and help during a natural disaster--as well as dams, cell towers, and National Grid substations.
It also lists projects–some new, some from the last HMP plan in 2019–that communities have identified as priorities for recovering from or mitigating the impact of a natural disaster.
That list includes upgrades to water and sewer infrastructure and land use studies.
“We want to make communities more resilient,” Mr. Pristach said, “so you can bounce back more quickly, asking, “Do our hazard rankings align with your experience? What facilities would you rely on in an emergency?”
There is some FEMA funding available for municipal projects, he also said; it’s important to make sure the ones listed for each town and the county are accurate, up-to-date and documented.
What the HMP doesn't look at unless they can be tied to natural disasters are “unnatural disasters”--a question posed by Schoharie Town Planning member Dawn Johnson: terrorist threats, overturned fuel trucks, pipeline explosions, battery or solar facility fires.
Schoharie Deputy Mayor Peter Johnson said the draft’s hazard threats are accurate.
The village has taken steps to try to mitigate the impact of things like flooding since Hurricane Irene in 2011, he said, “but the Schoharie watershed is so big, it’s well beyond our capability to manage.”
The small audience at the Office of Emergency Services was surprised to see wind at the top of the threat list.
That’s a common reaction, Mr. Pristach said.
It’s there in part because wind damage can occur any time of year and it can be widespread.
“Wind events are just so much more common than anyone thinks,” he said.
Huntersland Fire Chief Mike Walsh, also a member of the county’s Search & Rescue Team, said that makes sense.
They know where the usual trouble spots are when it comes to flooding, he said; wind damage is impossible to predict.
Kim Zimmer, a member of the Wright Fire Department and also director of the Community Library in Cobleskill, said she’s been seeing more in the way of snow and ice storms in both of those communities; as more data comes in, Mr. Pristach said, they could very well be bumped up on the list.
Ms. Zimmer said she wants to see her library–and libraries as a whole–better positioned to make resources like internet available during a disaster.
She also sees them taking a role in education.
“I want to be part of the discussion,” she said.
Thursday’s session was tailored to those attending. There’s also a countywide version.
Mr. Johnson said it’s important to include the Bridge Street bridge in the county report.
It’s part of a flood evacuation route, he said, and already under weight restrictions.
Though the county’s received some of the funding needed to replace the bridge, that work will take six to seven years, he pointed out.
“I think that’s one of the most serious problems in the county,” he said.
Mr. Pristach’s presentation was repeated Wednesday in Middleburgh.
The presentations will be posted on the county website.

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The FEMA-required update to Schoharie County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan will identify natural disaster threats like 2011’s Hurricane Irene and outline steps communities are taking to recover more quickly from the next one.
Irene delayed the opening of schools, washed away roads and bridges, and forced hard-hit town and communities’ offices to relocate and rebuilt, all documented in months of news coverage.