Johnson County has launched a new county website dealing with this summer’s severe weather.

“The Heat Is On” website, which began Wednesday, July 25, is designed to help residents cope with the severe drought and heat wave by centralizing weather and drought related resources from multiple jurisdictions. The new website, which is accessible on the county’s homepage at www.jocogov.org,  is located at www.jocogov.org/advisory/heat.

Last week, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback sent a request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture asking for disaster declarations for 37 additional Kansas counties, including Johnson, because of drought, extreme heat, high winds and wildfires.

Crop losses in Johnson County are expected to reach $17.5 million. Eighty percent of the county’s corn crop is lost. Sixty percent of the soybean and sorghum crop is also gone.

Residents are encouraged to visit the “The Heat Is On” site for health tips for humans and pets, and to find drought information for crops and livestock along with lawns, flowers, and trees.

More information about the county’s new website is available by contacting Gerald Hay, public information officer at the Johnson County Manager’s Office, at (913) 715-0736 or Gerald.Hay@jocogov.org.