US Department of Labor awards $175K to continue support of temporary employment, assistance in Mississippi after severe storms, tornadoes

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the incremental award of $175,000 to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security to support continued disaster-relief employment for residents as the state continues to recover after severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes killed 21 people and ravaged towns in March 2023.

Funding will enable the state to provide people with temporary employment for debris removal, humanitarian assistance and clean-up work in Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe, Montgomery, Panola, Sharkey and Washington counties.

On April 21, 2023, the department announced the award of a National Dislocated Worker Grant of up to $2.1 million – with an initial award of $800,000 – to enable the state to provide people with temporary employment for debris removal, humanitarian assistance and clean-up work. The department announced a second incremental award of $800,000 in January 2024. 

From March 24-25, 2023, a series of tornadoes and severe storms swept across Mississippi, causing residents’ deaths and injuries while destroying homes and businesses. The Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a major disaster declaration on March 26, 2023, enabling Mississippi to request this funding. 

Administered by the department’s Employment and Training Administration – and supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 – National Dislocated Worker Grants provide funding assistance to temporarily expand the service capacity of dislocated worker programs at the state and local levels when large, unexpected economic events cause significant job losses.