Public Comment Period Open for Worth County Hazardous Mitigation Plan

A public comment period has been opened for the draft hazardous mitigation plan for Worth County for the period covering 2027 to 2032. Every five years, counties must draft a hazardous mitigation plan in order to get disaster relief funding in the event of a disaster. The draft plan outlines strategies to reduce damage and losses from future hazard events. The deadline for commenting on the plan is September 30th. The plan is available for public review at the Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments website. To submit public comments, email Kirk Klopper at solid@nwmorcog.org.

Representatives from county departments, cities, the school, and other stakeholders have been working on drafting the plan update.

On March 30th, an informational meeting was held to introduce the topic, set future meeting dates, and present a list of potential hazards that could impact the county. A kick-off meeting was held with an overview of the purpose of hazard mitigation planning, including a discussion of grant programs associated with an approved plan. On July 20th, a second meeting was held, and the results of a community survey were discussed. The group reviewed updated mitigation goals, discussed progress on previously identified mitigation actions, and concluded with an outline of the next steps. On August 17th, a third meeting provided a summary of previously discussed topics, public survey results, and identified grant opportunities.

From June 2026 to August 2026, a public survey was conducted, yielding 153 responses, or 8% of the county. The most likely disasters seen as potentially impacting the area included severe thunderstorms, winter weather, drought, tornadoes, and extreme temperatures. 

The following potential projects that are administered by the state attracted potential interest of at least 50% of the respondents. They include tornado safe room construction (75.86%), retrofitting of existing buildings to add a tornado-safe room (67.59%), soil erosion stabilization (65.52%), electrical utility infrastructure retrofitting (63.45%), localized minor flood reduction projects such as storm water management or localized flood control (55.17%), and retrofitting existing buildings to protect against wind damage (53.79%).

During the meetings, participants reviewed the hazards identified in the 2022 plan. Sinkholes and levee flooding were eliminated since there is no history of sinkholes in the county, and there are no levees in the county or upstream that could cause flooding. 

The updated goals of the draft plan are as follows:

--Preserve human life, health, and safety;

--Defend the continuity of government and essential services;

--Protect public and private property;

--Safeguard community tranquility from the adverse effects of disasters. 

After the final version of the plan is drafted, it will be subject to approval by the different local governments and then subject to implementation.

The plan included the estimated populations of the county in 2015 and 2024. Worth County has an estimated 1,973 people as of 2024, down from 2,082 in 2015. Allendale has 48 people, up from 44 in 2015. Denver has 20 people, down from 47 in 2015. Grant City has 959, up from 835 in 2015. Sheridan has 181, down from 234 in 2015. Worth has 34 people, down from 53 in 2015. The figures quoted may be low; Worth County had greater turnout in the 2024 presidential election than in the 2020 election.