US Department of Labor provides grant to help Mississippi residents recover from severe storms

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $7 million National Emergency Grant to assist clean-up and recovery efforts in the wake of severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding that struck Mississippi last month.

"The Department of Labor is part of a broad team of federal agencies focused on helping the state of Mississippi with efforts to clean up and recover from the devastation left in the path of this storm," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "The impacted communities need and deserve our help, and it is my hope that today's grant will help the people of Mississippi move forward."

The funds are being awarded to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security and will be used to create temporary jobs to assist in recovery efforts.

President Obama declared the state of Mississippi a disaster area. On April 29, the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared the following 11 counties in Mississippi eligible for FEMA's Public Assistance Program: Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clarke, Greene, Hinds, Jasper, Kemper, Lafayette, Monroe, Neshoba and Webster. These counties have been targeted to receive assistance under this grant. More information on designated disaster areas in Mississippi is available from FEMA at http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=14252.

National Emergency Grants are part of the secretary of labor's discretionary fund and are awarded based on a state's ability to meet specific guidelines. For more information, visit http://www.doleta.gov/NEG/.