Van Buren County residents are being offered a chance to share how severe weather affects them and their lives as the county drafts a new hazard mitigation plan.
The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office of Domestic Preparedness is working with the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission to update the document that assesses the hazards that pose a risk to the county. They include things like tornadoes, dam failures, straight line winds, ice storms, blizzards, flooding, extreme temperatures, and more. The plan also identifies ways to minimize the damage of those events.
The sheriff’s department says as the county works to update the plan, public input is needed on how the county can help people responding to various hazards. County responses to threats could include public awareness, development restrictions, the use of snow fences and tornado safe rooms, and even burying overhead powerlines.
Comments, concerns, or questions regarding natural disasters and potential mitigation actions can be submitted to the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission by phone or email now, and a draft of the hazard mitigation plan will be available for the public to review before it’s submitted to the state. Anyone can email comments to schragb@swmpc.org.
