Central Iowa is at risk to a wide range of natural, manmade, and technological hazards. Some examples include tornadoes, floods, winter storms, dam failures, chemical releases, agricultural disease, and more. In response to these risks, the Warren County Iowa Emergency Management Commission (WCIA) in collaboration with JEO Consulting Group, Inc., is seeking to better understand how these hazardous events impact central Iowans in order to increase community resilience. To that end, WCIA will be updating their multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) over the next year, with the goal of reducing risk to hazards before they happen to communities in the WCIA.

A hazard mitigation plan is a community-guided document that identifies vulnerability to hazards and mitigation projects to reduce or eliminate this vulnerability. Having an approved and updated plan enables your community to be stronger and more resilient by:

1. Reducing your community’s risk and impacts from disasters,
2. Gaining eligibility for pre- and post-disaster mitigation grants, and
3. Building partnerships within your community and across the WCIA.

Residents, communities, schools, fire departments, hospitals, and more from Warren County are invited to participate in this process by attending meetings and providing information for the plan.

The Round 1 meeting has already taken place for the planning area. A recording of the Round 1 virtual meeting can be found here: https://bit.ly/WarrenCountyEMA. 

The Round 2 meeting has already taken place. A recording of the Round 2 virtual meeting can be found here: https://bit.ly/WarrenCountyEMA. 

The 2022 Warren County Hazard Mitigation Plan was reviewed and approved by the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEMD) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The final approved plan can be found in the links below.

Upfront Section

Profiles Appendix - This appendix includes Warren County, City of Carlisle, City of Cumming, City of Hartford, City of Indianola, City of Lacona, City of Martensdale, City of Milo, City of New Virginia, and the City of Norwalk. It also includes Indianola Community School District, Martensdale-St Marys Community School District, Norwalk Community School District, Simpson College, and Warren Water District.