The Newport City Council voted Oct. 20 to adopt the Newport addendum to the Lincoln County Multi-Jurisdictional Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (NHMP), a plan FEMA requires for communities to remain eligible for certain hazard mitigation grants.

Derek Tokos, community development director, summarized the plan's purpose and grant connection: the NHMP sets priority mitigation actions—ranging from water‑supply security to seismic upgrades—and is required for the city to be eligible for pre‑ and post‑disaster hazard mitigation funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "Once this resolution is adopted," Tokos said, FEMA will issue formal approval for the next five years.

Del Lockwood, the county's emergency preparedness coordinator, described the 2025 update as broader than the prior plan, expanding participating jurisdictions from 10 to 21 and producing a main, county-wide 300-page document with individual addenda for each jurisdiction. He highlighted population and displacement estimates in Newport's addendum, noting transient visitors greatly increase the number of people who could be displaced by an event: "In the inundation zone, it is estimated that temporary residents outnumber permanent residents approximately 7 to 1," Lockwood said, and the document estimates up to 7,450 displaced people when tourists are included.

Councilor Amen moved to adopt Resolution No. 2025-10-20-018, and Councilor Hall seconded. The council voted unanimously in favor.

Why this matters: Adoption keeps the city eligible for FEMA mitigation grants and provides a collaborative framework to prioritize actions that lower long-term disaster risk. The plan also provides local data—such as displaced population estimates—that the city can use in emergency planning and stockpiling decisions.

Next steps: Staff will forward the adopted addendum to FEMA for final processing; the plan will guide grant applications and mitigation work over the five-year approval period.