A statewide grant program is offering Mississippi homeowners up to $3,500 to build safe rooms, also known as storm shelters, on their properties.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is administering the program using funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. Each of Mississippi’s 82 counties will receive funding for 38 homeowners, who will be selected through a lottery drawing.
Applications open Friday and close Nov. 30. After the application period ends, MEMA will conduct a random drawing to select recipients.
Lowndes County EMA Director Cindy Lawrence said she hopes to see residents take advantage of the program.
“Lowndes County has had several tornadoes in the past, and we don’t have a lot of public shelters,” Lawrence told The Dispatch. “This program is offering residential (storm shelters) that you could put … at your home, on your property, in the ground or above ground, and I think that is very much needed here in Lowndes County.”
In August, 10 tornado shelters were installed at community centers in Crawford, Artesia and Plum Grove. The county also uses New Hope High School, Caledonia Elementary School and the Career Technology Center on Lehmberg Road as storm shelters when school is not in session.
In Oktibbeha County, the Community Safe Room at 985 Lynn Lane in Starkville can accommodate about 1,500 people during a severe storm.
Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Agency will have staff available on Wednesdays to assist with applications leading up to the Nov. 30 deadline, according to a Facebook post made Monday.
To qualify for reimbursement, residents must apply and be approved through the MEMA Statewide Residential Safe Room Grant Program before beginning construction. Selected applicants will receive an email with instructions for next steps. If not all funds are claimed in the first round, MEMA may hold a second lottery.
Approved homeowners are responsible for the upfront cost of construction. Reimbursements will be issued about 60 days after installation, inspection and approval.
Safe rooms must be located within 150 feet of an exterior door of the home, compliant with FEMA design and safety standards and must be installed by a licensed state contractor. The shelters cannot exceed a 16-person occupancy limit.
Renters are ineligible for the program and mobile-homeowners must own both the home and the land it sits on. FEMA requirements and the application form are available on the MEMA website.
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