Kankakee County will update its plan to reduce the damages caused by severe weather such as floods, tornadoes, snow and ice storms, and thunderstorms among other events.

It’s called a hazard mitigation plan and the process to update it will be funded through a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“The Plan describes the natural hazard events that have impacted the county and identifies activities and projects to reduce the risk to residents, property and infrastructure,” said Delbert Skimerhorn, Kankakee County director of planning.

“By having an updated hazard mitigation plan, the county and participating jurisdictions will become eligible for federal funds to construct these projects.”

The Kankakee County Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee will hold its first meeting at 9 a.m. May 26 at the county administration building, fourth- floor county board room at 189 E. Court St. in Kankakee.

The committee includes county, municipal, school, fire protection district and hospital representatives, as well as technical partners and other stakeholders. The committee will meet over the next year in working sessions so that any interested residents can attend and ask questions. The purpose of the working sessions is to gather and discuss information that will be used to update the plan.

“This mitigation plan is different from our county’s emergency response plan because it focuses on ways to reduce and prevent damages before they occur,” Skimerhorn said.