FEMA Funds Hazard Mitigation Plan For Sewerage And Water Board Of New Orleans 

Release Date: April 18, 2007
Release Number: 1603-626

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NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The city of New Orleans receives rainfall amounts of over 58 inches annually. Draining and pumping 12.9 billion cubic feet of water from approximately 61,335 acres in the city, providing potable water, and maintaining sewerage and water treatment systems for the entire city can be a monumental task.

To help accomplish this task and prepare for future needs, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans is developing a single jurisdiction local hazard mitigation plan that will specifically address the water, sewerage and drainage systems for the city of New Orleans. A recently approved grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will fund their efforts.

This $49,155 federal grant is earmarked to develop a hazard mitigation plan compliant with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000). DMA, which was established by Congress, emphasizes the need for states and communities to prepare for possible disasters by developing hazard mitigation plans for existing and future buildings.

The local hazard mitigation plan focuses on the most prevalent hazards such as coastal storm surge and flooding, levee failure, high winds, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought and subsidence. It will estimate the location and extent of possible losses to life and property and interruption of service from these hazards, identify and prioritize mitigation strategies, and plan ways to implement these strategies.

The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program provides grants to States and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures after a major disaster declaration, to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to 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: Wednesday, 18-Apr-2007 10:27:00