County officials are beginning the task of updating a hazard mitigation plan

Four years ago, Winneshiek County produced a plan on how to take steps to reduce the possibilities of hazardous events such as flooding and how to respond to them if they happen.

The 2015 Winneshiek County MJ-9 Hazard Mitigation Plan will be reviewed and updated during 2019.  Doing so will allow Winneshiek County and its cities to qualify for disaster assistance from FEMA and the federal government.  The document is 291 pages long and covers many types of possible disasters.

County officials met with staffers last week from Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission, which is assisting Winneshiek County Emergency Management on the project.

Members of the public and representatives from Decorah and other communities in Winneshiek County will be invited later in 2019 to discuss what they see as the hazards which could impact their community (flooding ranked #1 in 2015) and steps which would make the most sense to take to lessen the chances of those hazards occuring.