Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently issued the following announcement.
Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida Inc. will receive $5,207,250 in federal grant money to retrofit the facility in Miami Beach for protection from wind during storms.
FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) has approved the funds to protect building openings by replacing exterior windows and doors with impact-resistant products and retrofitting the roof to meet current building code requirements. Wind protection also will be provided on other openings such as vents, louvers and exhaust fans. The project will reduce storm damage from future wind events, up to 190 miles per hour, for the facility at 4302 Alton Road, Miami Beach, FL 33140.
Funding for this project is authorized under Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Act, the 1988 law that governs FEMA’s disaster-related activities.
FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is an important source of federal disaster assistance. HMGP funds may become available following the president’s declaration of a major disaster, and help strengthen communities by improving buildings, facilities and infrastructure that people use every day. A 2018 report from the National Institute of Building Sciences found that one dollar spent on hazard mitigation will save more than six dollars of recovery and rebuilding costs.
Generally, the HMGP may provide a state, tribe or territory with additional grants up to 15 percent of the total disaster grants awarded by FEMA for a federally declared disaster. States such as Florida that meet higher mitigation planning criteria may qualify for a higher percentage.
Florida has a FEMA-approved Enhanced Mitigation Plan, making the state eligible for HMGP funding not to exceed 20 percent of the estimated total amount of money spent by FEMA on disaster grants in the Hurricane Irma disaster. From this amount, the HMGP reimburses the state up to 75 percent of eligible costs for mitigation projects. The remaining amount comes from other sources such as state and local assets and a combination of cash and in-kind sources.
Original source can be found here.
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