Seven months since Hurricane Ida wreaked havoc in the area, Montgomery County is working hard on finding ways to mitigate future flooding, writes Emily Rizzo for WHYY.

The county is in the process of acquiring land on the flood plain along the Perkiomen Trail in Perkiomen Township where three homes were damaged by Ida. The County’s Planning Commission will leave this land as open space.

“By removing impervious surface and naturalizing it we are enhancing the ability for that corridor to retain more water, slow down the flow of it,” said Scott France, Executive Director of the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission also hopes to get $500,000 in American Rescue Plan funds to create a countywide stormwater mitigation plan. The commission intends to look at all of the watersheds in the county and point to issues that lead to flooding.

“We’d like to do one that updates [plans on] all the watersheds to some degree and then can put some more focus on those that don’t have plans in place or aren’t as far along,” said France.

This would encourage municipalities to implement their stormwater mitigation plans and make it easier for them to apply for grant money.

Read more about the preparations in WHYY.