Harrison County To Receive More Than $150,000 Grant For Mitigation Plan
Release Date: February 28, 2008
Release Number: 1604-630
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BILOXI, Miss. -- Harrison County will receive a federal grant of more than $150,000 to invest in long-term solutions today that will reduce the toll from natural and manmade disasters tomorrow.
The $159,425 grant provides 75 percent of the total $212,568 project cost which will assist Harrison County in updating their hazard mitigation plan that will be approved by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The county's updated plan will assess all natural hazards based upon best current available data, identify specific areas of vulnerability, assess existing local government capabilities to implement mitigation actions and projects, and outline strategies to reduce the impact of high risk hazards.
The results of this project will support the ongoing planning efforts of Harrison County by: creating mechanisms to generate public awareness and education of known hazards and to facilitate local-level participatory hazard mitigation planning; incorporating disaster prevention and risk reduction measures into ongoing long-term recovery and redevelopment programs; and developing a methodology for project identification, assessment and implementation, better preparing Harrison County and participating jurisdictions to submit eligible Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) projects to MEMA and FEMA that can result in measurable reductions to hazard vulnerability.
FEMA will provide the funding from the HMGP. HMGP funds are activated following a disaster declaration and based on a percentage of the estimated federal funding to be spent on Public and Individual Assistance programs.
The HMGP can be used to fund projects to protect either public or private property, provided the project fits within the state's and local government's overall mitigation strategy and complies with HMGP guidelines.
The HMGP is administered by MEMA which identifies and manages the projects from beginning to closeout. The objectives of the HMGP are to reduce or eliminate future risk to lives and property from all hazards, provide funds to implement projects previously identified in state or local hazard mitigation plans, and enable mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster.
FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
Last Modified: Thursday, 28-Feb-2008 14:18:33