Hazard risks can be natural or man-made, and cover a variety of things, such as storms and flooding, hazardous materials, infrastructure, human disease and more.  In the coming year, Clayton County Emergency Management, with assistance from Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission, will complete an update to the county’s hazard mitigation plan, including reviewing hazard risks and planning mitigation actions to reduce the impacts of risks in the future.

The public is invited to be involved in the Clayton County Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee (HMPC), the group tasked with helping to prioritize hazard risks and mitigation actions for the county as a whole. Planning committee members require no previous experience to be involved. The planning process will provide the data, materials and questions necessary to engage committee members in thinking about hazard mitigation needs for their community. Committee members will attend up to four meetings over the course of the coming year, with the first being held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the Clayton County Office Building (600 Gunder Road., Elkader).  

Check out the Clayton County Hazard Mitigation Plan website at https://uerpc.org/hazard-mitigation-clayton-county to see the current hazard mitigation plan and related resources, for contact information and to sign up to participate in the Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee. Also, stay tuned for information on local hazard mitigation meetings to occur in each community in early 2026—another option for getting involved.