President Declares Major Disaster for Mississippi

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today announced that federal disaster assistance has been made available to the state of Mississippi to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding during the period of December 23-28, 2015.

The President’s action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Benton, Coahoma, Marshall, Quitman, and Tippah counties

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.     

Federal funding also is available to state and eligible local and tribal governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work as a result of the severe storms and flooding in Benton, Marshall, and Tippah counties.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

Joe M. Girot has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. Girot said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

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FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.