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6.3 Continued Public Involvement Section 1 — Introduction 1.1 General Description Emergencies and disasters cause death or leave people injured or displaced, cause significant damage to our communities, businesses, public infrastructure and our environment, and cost tremendous amounts in terms of response and recovery dollars and economic loss. Hazard mitigation reduces or eliminates losses of life and property. After disasters, repairs and reconstruction are often completed in such a way as to simply restore to pre- disaster conditions. Such efforts expedite a return to normalcy; however, the replication of pre-disaster conditions results in a cycle of damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. Hazard mitigation ensures that such cycles are broken and that post-disaster repairs and reconstruction result in a reduction in hazard vulnerability. While we cannot prevent disasters from happening, their effects can be reduced or eliminated through a well-organized public education and awareness effort, preparedness and mitigation. For those hazards that cannot be fully mitigated, the community must be prepared to provide efficient and effective response and recovery. 1.2 Purpose and Authority The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000), Section 322 (a-d) requires that local governments, as a condition of receiving federal disaster mitigation funds, have a mitigation plan that describes the process for identifying hazards, risks and vulnerabilities, identify and prioritize mitigation actions, encourage the development of local mitigation and provide technical support for those efforts. This mitigation plan serves to meet those requirements. 1.3 Community Information The section is to provide a broad perspective, brief history and describes the makeup and development of the community. 1. Topo�raphv: The City of Colton lies on the southern edge of the mid San Bernardino Valley. Most of the city lies within the valley with an average elevation of 1000 feet. The Santa Ana River bisects the city. In the southern portion of the city the valley floor transitions into the hills of the Reche Canyon and La Loma Hills area. The highest point in Colton is the summit of Blue Mountain with an elevation of 2414 feet. 7