Landslides, hail storms, wildfires and floods have all changed how Colorado Springs officials think of local natural disasters, and that’s reflected in the city’s new hazard mitigation plan.

While those hazards have been well known locally for decades, the threat of disasters became more real in recent years, when El Paso County was hit by catastrophic wildfires, hail storms and flooding events. In spring 2015, record-breaking rainfall triggered landslides on the southwest side of Colorado Springs – an area that has not seen slides in nearly two decades.

The city’s latest hazard mitigation plan, a document it revises every five years and submits to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, reflects the change wrought on the city by recent history.

Wildfires, always considered a hazard, demand more aggressive prevention and attention to risk than in previous years, according to a draft of the city’s latest plan. Landslides have always been a threat, but now the city suggests buying monitoring technology and changing ordinances to address danger zones. When it comes to floods, the city lists newer concerns about flooding off the Wald Canyon burn scar, stream bank erosion and the overloaded Fountain Creek watershed.

The city must regularly update its hazard mitigation plan and get it approved by FEMA to qualify for several federal grants. Putting together the document also gives the city a chance to touch base with its residents, said Bart Howard, deputy director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management.

Howard expects the 2015 plan will spur the city to continue to improve its disaster communications with residents who are deaf or blind and address emergency concerns for those with disabilities.

The city’s new plan, in its final stages of drafting, is open for public comment until Jan. 31.

In its 2010 plan, the city suggested that the Office of Emergency Management work toward getting federal accreditations ­- mainly to improve its disaster preparedness plans – which it achieved a few years later. The 2015 plan also has suggestions and recommendations, which include increasing public education and changing some land use ordinances.

One recommendation suggests the city prohibit further development in the 100-year floodplain areas. In the case of landslides, the plan recommends that the city reconsider its building codes and ordinances for homes built in landslide-prone areas and track landslides with GPS technology.

Wildfire considerations include increasing public education and creating a well-defined map of the wildland urban interface, or neighborhoods with high fire danger. The plan’s suggestions are non-binding, although the plan must get approval from the City Council, Howard said.

The plan also offers an extensive history of local disasters, giving dates and details for all of the major landslides, wildfires and hail storms that have hit the city over the past several decades. Windstorms, for instance, have frequently caused thousands of dollars of damage in Colorado Springs – a windstorm on Feb. 15, 1986 caused $500,000 of damage. One windstorm in March 1977 killed five people. The disaster plan also takes into account terrorist attacks and earthquakes.