Michigan to Receive Federal Funding for Natural Disaster Mitigation Loans

Michigan is set to receive $5.1 million to help communities address shoreline erosion and flooding.

The funds come through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund Program, established following the passage of the STORM Act in 2021. Senator Gary Peters from Michigan authored the legislation. He says the $5.1 million will provide loans to local communities that, when payed back, will fund the next round of mitigation efforts.

“They are very low interest loans, and when those loans are payed back it’s a revolving fund that other communities will then be able to access,” said Peters. “Our hope is with this  funding we’re going to be working to make Michigan more resilient to deal with storm events, particularly the flooding that we have seen all too often.”

Michigan was one of seven states to be given funds from the first year of the program. The state will now choose which of the 43 proposed projects will receive funding from the initial investment. Peters says he hopes to see more strong applications from Michigan communities in future years to bring more federal funding to the state’s efforts.