Public Input Requested as Iroquois County Updates Hazard Mitigation Plan

Iroquois County residents, community leaders, business owners, area agencies and organizations now have an opportunity to share how severe weather events impact their property and lives. There is also an opportunity to share their ideas on how to reduce local impacts in the future.

The Iroquois County Emergency Management Agency is working with American Environmental Corporation from Springfield, Illinois to update the county’s Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP). The plan assesses the natural hazards that pose risk to the county, such as tornadoes, straight line winds, ice storms, blizzards, wildfire, flooding, and extreme temperatures and identifies ways to minimize the damage of future events. As the county works to update the plan, it wants to hear from the public.

The Iroquois County HMP is a multi-jurisdictional plan that covers Iroquois County including all cities, villages, and communities within Iroquois County. This HMP also incorporates the concerns and needs of townships, drainage districts, school districts, and area agencies or organizations participating in the plan. The plan will be updated by a planning team made up of representatives from county departments, local municipalities, school districts and other key stakeholders. When completed, the
plan will be submitted to the Illinois Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for approval.

“Hazard mitigation planning is a central part of our emergency management program,” said Scott Anderson, Iroquois County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator. “Understanding the natural hazards that can cause serious impact to our communities and taking action to reduce or eliminate the impact of future disasters makes us more resilient. Hazard mitigation helps us to break the cycle of damage and repair caused by things like flooding, ice storms, and severe wind events that can damage property, stress economies, and threaten life safety in Iroquois County.”

Plans are to begin a series of community meetings early in the new year (January).  Dates and locations will be announced in advance.  Input from community leaders and citizens is vital to cover all the bases. All input is welcome. 

The Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) requires counties to update their plan every 5 years to maintain eligibility for FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs.

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