Clay County Iowa Hazard Mitigation Plan

Project Purpose

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

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 Clay County.

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

For more information about Clay County Emergency Management, please visit their website here.

Project Meetings

This planning process includes public meetings to provide an opportunity for participants and interested stakeholders to learn about the plan and provide input. 

A Workshop for smaller communities in Clay County will be held sometime in January. Once a time is set, communities will be notified.

Meetings for the City of Spencer and Clay County have been scheduled. Details are provided below.

City of Spencer Meeting: Wednesday, December 11: 1-3pm at City Hall

Clay County Meeting: Thursday, December 12:  9-11am at County Administration Building in Spencer

Public survey

As part of the hazard mitigation plan update, the planning team will be seeking public input on hazards that impact Clay County and its communities. The information provided through the survey responses will guide the planning team as they identify mitigation actions that help reduce risk. 

The survey is available here: https://forms.office.com/r/geTfpPNXGQ

Additional resources