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<br />RISK AND VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT <br />Ramsey County Multijurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan | July 2012 4-35 <br />is also a key factor in wildfire development. Drought conditions make natural fuels (grass, brush, trees, <br />dead vegetation) more fire-prone. <br />Figure 4-4 Drought <br /> <br />Hazard Profile <br />Ramsey County experienced its worst drought in the 1930s and again experienced drought conditions in <br />1976. To date, agricultural losses have been the primary losses associated with drought, as no critical <br />facilities have sustained any damage or functional downtime due to dry weather conditions. Because of <br />the extremely unpredictable nature of drought (including duration), reliably calculating a recurrence <br />interval is difficult. <br />Assets Exposed to Hazard <br /> Property Risk/Vulnerability: Drought conditions typically pose little or no threat to structures; <br />however, fires can occur as a result of dry weather. The Ramsey County Hazard Mitigation Planning <br />Committee concluded that drought in itself presents no credible threat to critical facilities. The <br />drought could result in the loss of the availability of municipal water supply. This threat has been <br />addressed by mitigation actions. Wildfire because of drought was considered, and the committee <br />determined that since previous instances of wildfire in the County have been relatively minimal, it <br />does not bear a significant threat to the community. <br /> People Risk/Vulnerability: In evaluating vulnerability of the population in Ramsey County, it was <br />determined that risk/vulnerability includes the entire population of the County since there is no way <br />to determine the impact/magnitude of a drought incident. People are vulnerable to the effects of