Douglas County, Sparks honored at disaster prevention summit

Douglas County has been named Nevada's "Project Impact" community for the coming year.

Project Impact is a federal program to help develop disaster preparation plans at the state and local-level coordinating both public and private sectors.

Each state designates a community anually where disaster mitigation efforts will be concentrated. Las Vegas, Carson City and Sparks were the focus of similar efforts in past years.

"This is part of our overall effort to reduce the impact of any disaster potentially threatening the lives and property of residents in every Nevada community," said state Emergency Management Chief Frank Siracusa.

In addition, state officials at the summit in Washington, D.C., announced that the city of Sparks has received national recognition for its disaster mitigation efforts.