U.S. Senator Thad Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has announced that Mississippi will receive $13.3 million in federal funding for recovery from recent severe storms and flooding.
Mississippi will receive $13,306,631 through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program to complete work on 129 projects in at least 29 counties. Many of these projects have been in need of funding since 2013.
Counties receiving funding include Adams, Calhoun, Carroll, DeSoto, Franklin, Grenada, Greene, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Jones, Lafayette, Lamar, Lauderdale, Leflore, Lincoln, Monroe, Montgomery, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pike, Pontotoc, Tallahatchie, Tate, Warren, Wayne, Webster, Wilkinson and Yazoo.
The EWP program, administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, is designed to provide hazard reduction and recovery measures to communities impacted by floods, severe storms and other natural disasters.
Forms of assistance include disaster cleanup and recovery activities, erosion repair, stream-flow restoration, debris removal and flood prevention activities.