If the tornadoes that ripped through central Illinois last month had to occur, they may have struck at an opportune time for Cook County.
Cook County has natural disaster-preparation public meetings scheduled for next week, and more people may actually attend – just because they’ve had a good scare.
“Nobody wants to wake up and have what happened to Washington, Ill., happen to them,” said Michael Masters, executive director of the Cook County department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The meetings are for public input and education regarding the Cook County Multi-Jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Plan. The plan is, as the name indicates, intended to prepare for, not respond, to natural and man-made disasters.
That plan is a long time coming – stalled for years, officials say. Lake and DuPage counties have had their natural hazard plans filed for seven years. McHenry County, three years. Will County, eight years.