VIDALIA — It’s a good idea to plan ahead.

And Concordia Parish will start $50,000 worth of planning ahead soon.

Earlier this week, the Concordia Parish Police Jury voted to award the updating of its hazard mitigation plan to the Whit Group.

The purpose of the hazard mitigation plan is to have an operating plan in place should the parish have to respond to some kind of emergency situation, Police Jury President Melvin Ferrington said.

“The goal of this is to try to stay ahead of the game and have something in place,” he said. “All of the emergency people will be familiarized with it and know how the plan works.”

The update, which is being funded by the department of homeland security and emergency preparedness, will last anywhere from six months to a year, Ferrington said.

“The book they will produce is four inches thick,” he said.

“Any kind of emergency situation would be planned out through this book, be it a hurricane, oil explosion, a terrorist attack, hazardous materials trucks coming through the parish, gas line explosions — any kind of emergency situation.”

The project was awarded to the Whit Group because their primary focus is writing similar plans, and the group has done so for both the state of Louisiana and for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Ferrington said.

“Homeland security wants the best qualified group for this because they are putting up the money,” he said.

The plan will be developed in collaboration with the parish and municipal fire districts and emergency services, hazard mitigation and homeland security, Ferrington said.

“Anyone who is connected with the emergency situation is involved in writing this,” he said.

Hazard mitigation plans are required to be updated every five years.