Hamilton County is asking residents to fill out an online survey that will help shape the next five-year emergency plan, a countywide blueprint that includes Montgomery, Blue Ash and Sycamore Township.

The Hamilton County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (EMHSA) launched the survey on Tuesday, Sept. 1, the first day of National Preparedness Month. Responses will feed directly into the 2028 Hamilton County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, which replaces the current 2023 version.

Federal law requires the county to update the plan every five years under the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, according to the county's emergency management planning page. The plan identifies risks, sets priorities and qualifies the county for certain FEMA mitigation grants.

The survey comes after a damaging summer. Five to six inches of rain fell over three hours on July 17, killing one person and injuring three others across Hamilton County, WVXU reported. The county did not qualify for federal disaster assistance after that storm.

"We knew going in that disaster eligibility was unlikely," Assistant Cincinnati Fire Chief Matthew Flagler told WVXU on Aug. 4, after the county's July flooding fell short of the federal aid threshold.

Hamilton County ranks among Ohio's highest-risk counties for property flood exposure, according to the Insurance Information Institute, as WLWT reported.

Sycamore Township's emergency operations plan, adopted in January 2026, lists 21 hazards likely to affect the township, including floods, tornadoes, hazardous materials incidents and winter storms. Blue Ash adopted the current countywide plan in October 2023 through Resolution No. 2023-68, charging its fire and police departments with carrying out the plan's recommendations locally.

Montgomery and Sycamore Township both have representatives on the EMHSA Executive Committee. Montgomery's Craig Margolis and Sycamore Township's Thomas Weidman serve on the panel that helps guide the agency's work, according to the EMHSA 2025 annual report. EMHSA Director Nick Crossley leads the agency, which participated in 27 community outreach events and distributed 10,268 preparedness materials in 2025.

No deadline has been set.

The survey is available at hcema.org/Survey2026. National Preparedness Month runs through September.