Homeowners will be able to apply for grants of up to $10,000 to help strengthen their properties against a hurricane and lower their insurance premiums.

The $5 million Comprehensive Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program was funded by the state Legislature this year and is for single family, owner-occupied homes in the lower six counties of Mississippi.

Installing a stronger roof and other mitigation steps provided by these grants could mean a home and occupants survive a hurricane.

“Not only does it protect the person that lives there, it lowers your insurance rates,” said Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney.

He attended the first Extreme Wind Conference this week at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi and said it will take 3-6 months to get the website for the grants online so homeowners can begin applying for the money.

In Alabama, where a similar grant program is in place, anywhere from 50,000 to 60,000 people submit applications for grants on the website every quarter, said Travis Taylor, Alabama’s acting director of the office of risk and resilience.

“By the time the process is over, we’ve had as many as 200,000,” he said.

Wind insurance premiums are coming down in Alabama, he said, thanks to this program. The average reduction in premium for a homeowner who does full mitigation with a grant of up to $10,000 is about 40%, he said.

The most requested grants are to help pay for a reinforced roof system, he said, which is a layered roof that starts with a membrane and different nailing systems to keep the roof on and the water out of a home during a hurricane.

How the MS program will work

Mississippi is starting with $5 million this year, granted under HB 1705.

The procedure for how they money will be awarded is still to be worked out, but Chaney said income isn’t one of the factors.

“That’s from lessons learned,” he said. “It’s not about income. It’s about protecting that home.”

The grants won’t be available to homeowners in the wind pool, he said.

Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma have large sums of money from the general fund to offer grants for hurricane remediation, he said. Mississippi will target how to make the most impact with the money available.

What might be eligible for grants

“Our goal is to really protect against wind,” Chaney said.

Among the remediation that may be covered by the grants are:

▪ Money toward reinforced roof systems

▪ Hurricane shutters

▪ Roof fasteners

▪ Garage door reinforcement. “That’s extremely important,” Chaney said.

▪ DP 50 window glass that is strong and designed to keep water out the home

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The money might also be used for technology like a waterproof membrane around the base of the building, he said, to keep flood waters and storm surge out of the home.

Many buildings in Ocean Springs and Pascagoula got anywhere from 6-8 inches of water during Hurricane Katrina, he said. “If you can protect them with a foot of water membranes, you’ve got a home that’s protected to some degree from flooding.”

What to do now

Andy Case, who will be overseeing the grant program for the Mississippi Insurance Department, said for the last 18 to 24 months, people have been asking about this kind of grant to help with insurance costs.

While Mississippi’s grant regulations are written and the website prepared to launch this program, there are steps homeowners can take and improvements they can make now to lower their premiums, he said.

“The roof is where you’re going to get the most bang for your buck,” he said.

The department website has information about programs and discounts that are available to make homes safer and lower insurance rates.