Cerro Gordo County, Iowa is vulnerable to the impacts from a wide variety of natural and manmade hazards such as tornadoes or high winds, floods, winter storms, chemical releases, agricultural disease, and more. The Cerro Gordo County Emergency Management Agency has hired JEO Consulting Group to assist in the update of their county-wide Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP). The HMP seeks to understand how these hazardous events impact the area in order to identify specific strategies to increase community resilience. 

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 Cerro Gordo County.

Jurisdictions across the county have participated in the prior 2018 HMP and are eligible to be part of this plan update. Residents, communities, schools, fire departments, health care facilities, businesses, and other stakeholders across Cerro Gordo County are invited to participate in this process by attending meetings and providing information for the plan.

The Cerro Gordo County Hazard Mitigation Plan has been approved by Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEMD) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The final approved plan is available for download below. 

Cerro Gordo County Hazard Mitigation Plan - Upfront

Cerro Gordo Profiles Appendix - This appendix includes the profiles for Cerro Gordo County, the Cities of Clear Lake, Dougherty, Mason City, Meservey, Plymouth, Rock Falls, Rockwell, Thornton, and Ventura, and Clear Lake Community Schools, Mason City Schools, and West Fork Community Schools Districts. 

The planning process to update the Cerro Gordo County HMP included several meetings to gather local input and have more intimate discussions about community capabilities, needs, and vulnerabilities. Descriptions and meeting information throughout the planning process is provided below. 

A representative from each jurisdiction participating in the HMP was required to attend Round 1 and Round 2 meetings to meet FEMA participation requirements. If you missed either meeting, watching the recording and submitting key information to JEO Consulting can meet these requirements in lieu of attending. 

Kick-off Meeting

The project Kick-off Meeting was held Wednesday, June 21st in Mason City IA. Representatives from Cerro Gordo County, local fire and police departments, community representatives, and JEO consulting staff met to discuss the overall  scope of the project, roles and responsibilities of the plan participants, general project schedule, and preliminary data for plan development.

Round 1 Meeting

The first meeting (Round 1 Meeting) was held on Wednesday, July 26th in Mason City. The purpose of the Round 1 meeting was to review and update key demographic information; evaluate local planning mechanisms which integrate or support hazard mitigation concepts; evaluate and describe critical facilities and infrastructure for each jurisdictions; discuss local capabilities and vulnerabilities; and identify key hazards of concern specific to each jurisdiction.

• Round 1 Meeting -  a recording of the Round 1 meeting can be viewed HERE

Round 2 Meeting

The second and last meeting for the HMP was held on Wednesday, September 6th in Mason City. The purpose of the Round 2 meeting was to review vital information including local capabilities and opportunities for plan integration; identifying and updating mitigation alternatives to reduce local vulnerabilities; and review of previously collected data. 

• Round 2 Meeting -  a recording of the Round 2 meeting can be viewed HERE

2018 Cerro Gordo Hazard Mitigation Plan

A copy of the previous FEMA-approved Hazard Mitigation Plan for Cerro Gordo County Iowa is available below. 

2018 Cerro Gordo HMP

Public Survey

A Public Survey has been created to better understand the impacts and concerns of stakeholders in Cerro Gordo County. We encourage you to share it with residents, workers, and business owners throughout the county. If you utilize social media or have a website, please share through those channels as well. 

The public survey can be accessed here: https://forms.office.com/r/Te7KgYrT14