Imagine that you are building a sandcastle near a rising tide. To counteract the risk of destruction from incoming waves, you dig a moat to combat disaster if and when it occurs. This is the visual Tom Jordan, emergency services coordinator for the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, used to describe emergency mitigation planning during a public workshop in Point Reyes Station last week. “It’s us considering the risks and strategy” so that when a catastrophe hits, Marin will be better prepared to receive aide, he said. And, he added, “rich uncle FEMA wants to know of our effort.” The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires that state, local and tribal governments update their disaster mitigation plans every five years, and the Marin County Multi-Jurisdiction Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is on track for its spring 2017 deadline. The plan is a partnership between the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, the Marin County Fire Department, the Marin County Department of Public Works and the Marin County Community Development Agency. As part of the update, Mr. Jordan wrapped up a series of outreach workshops that described the update process, and solicited public comment through an online survey. He said he expects to receive more than 200 individual responses to the survey, which is available at surveymonkey.com/r/VES_Session1. The short survey asks participants to define which hazard they believe is the greatest threat in their area—earthquake, tsunami, flood or fire—and it provides information about how to prepare for those disasters. “The mood on the [update] process and eventual plan is positive,” Mr. Jordan said.