After nearly two decades of paralysis on the issue, Mississippi officials are inching closer to establishing a state home mitigation program to protect residents from natural disasters. Storm preparation experts say such a program is vital to building resilience as the dangers from climate change continue to grow.
Senate Bill 2409, which would create the Strengthen Mississippi Homes Program, heads to Gov. Tate Reeves for his consideration after both chambers approved the measure on Wednesday.
In a three-part series last year, Mississippi Today reported on the immense vulnerability the state faces to climate change, which some researchers argued is greater than anywhere else in the country.
The program would offer grants of up to $10,000 to allow homeowners to retrofit their property to better protect them from hurricane, tornado, hail and other windstorm damage. The money would go towards upgrading roofs to meet the FORTIFIED standards set by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.
Alabama, which leads the nation in FORTIFIED homes, released a study last year showing a significant reduction in losses from mitigated houses versus others after Hurricane Sally in 2020. In addition to making homes safer, the grant has also helped reduce home insurance costs. Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mississippians, especially on the Coast, have seen skyrocketing premiums as insurance companies account for the risk of natural disasters.
“I would like to thank the (lawmakers) for their work in coming together on a mitigation program that puts us on a level playing field with other coastal states that have successful mitigation programs such as Alabama and Louisiana,” state Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said in a statement Wednesday, adding that his office is committed to “improve long-term resilience for Mississippi homeowners.”
Single-family, primary residence homes anywhere in Mississippi would be eligible for the grants. The home must have windstorm insurance and, if in a flood zone, flood insurance as well. The Mississippi Department of Insurance, which would administer the program, would fund the grants through fees collected from insurance agents. The department’s appropriation bill, which is being considered by the governor, allows them to spend up to $15 million for the program from the fees collected.
State officials first developed the program in 2007 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But due to a lack of political will and infighting among state officials, it took until 2024 for the Legislature to fund the program. That approval was limited to a pilot program, though, and lawmakers declined to re-up the funding in 2025.
A main point of contention was whether to allow the Insurance Department to run the program or to put it in the hands of a separate, nonprofit authority. The distrust between lawmakers and Chaney traced back to a 2016 scandal over funding the state couldn’t account for, which went through a different state agency, Mississippi Today reported.
Yet while arguing the Insurance Department shouldn’t run the program, lawmakers also pointed to Alabama’s mitigation program as a shining example. Alabama runs its program through its state insurance department, and experts, such as those at Smart Home America and Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, said the program largely mirrored what Chaney pushed for.
Sen. Scott DeLano, a Republican from Biloxi who’s led the Legislature’s work on the issue, repeatedly called out Chaney last year over a lack of information and concerns with the Insurance Department running the grant fund. Leading up to this legislative session, though, the two were able to work through their differences, DeLano said.
“I’ve got to commend the commissioner for the work he’s done,” the senator told his colleagues on the floor Wednesday.
Sen. Walter Michel, a Republican from Ridgeland, introduced the measure.
“For too, too long we have played hurricane roulette with the mitigation work,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said after the Senate passed the proposal. “So many homes all across Mississippi will need what you did today.”
The proposal would also create an advisory committee that would meet with the Insurance Department about the program three times a year. The committee would be comprised of three appointees from the Senate, three from the House, and the executive director of the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriters Association.
This story was originally published by Mississippi Today and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
