| FEMA Awards $3.2 Million To Colleges, Universities to Become Disaster Resistant
Release Date: October 15, 2004
Release Number: HQ-04-228 |  |
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded more than $3.2 million in grants as part of FEMA's Disaster Resistant University (DRU) program. The DRU program assists universities and colleges, through State and local governments, to implement a sustained pre-disaster natural hazard mitigation program to reduce the overall risk to students, faculty, facilities and research assets.
In the past decade, disasters have affected university and college campuses with increasing frequency, bringing with them injuries in some instances deaths. Nearly all instances have brought monetary losses and disruptions of the institutions' teaching, research and public service functions.
Damage and interruption to the institutional mission can result in significant losses that can be measured by faculty and student departures, loss of irreplaceable research assets, decreases in research funding and increases in insurance premiums. The DRU program is designed to lessen or eliminate such losses.
In FY 2004, the DRU funds were competitively awarded to ensure that program funds benefit a representative range of universities, based on hazard type as well as size, location, and academic community served, which included consideration of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges and Universities.
| State |
College/University |
Activity |
Federal Share Awarded in FY04 |
| VA |
Radford University |
Plan |
$31,500 |
| VA |
Virginia State Univ. |
Plan |
$75,000 |
| VA |
Virginia Tech |
Plan |
$75,000 |
| FL |
Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) |
Plan |
$100,000 |
| FL |
Florida International University (FIU) |
Plan |
$99,759 |
| FL |
University of Miami |
Project |
$226,500 |
| GA |
University System of Georgia |
Plan |
$100,000 |
| KY |
University of Louisville |
Plan |
$94,958 |
| MS |
University of Mississippi |
Plan |
$75,000 |
| NC |
UNC-Wilmington |
Project |
$80,000 |
| NC |
UNC-Wilmington |
Project |
$24,000 |
| NC |
UNC-Wilmington |
Project |
$57,000 |
| NC |
UNC-Wilmington |
Plan |
$110,000 |
| SC |
Horry-Georgetown Tech |
Plan |
$89,002 |
| TN |
U. of Memphis |
Plan |
$100,000 |
| LA |
Southern University (LA) |
Plan |
$100,000 |
| LA |
Tulane Power Plant |
Project |
$18,113 |
| LA |
U. of New Orleans |
Plan |
$99,750 |
| OK |
U. of Central Oklahoma |
Plan |
$75,000 |
| TX |
Texas State Technical College |
Project |
$75,000 |
| TX |
Texas University-Medical Center |
Plan |
$97,500 |
| MO |
Metropolitan Community Coll., MO |
Plan |
$100,000 |
| CO |
U. of Colorado-Boulder |
Plan |
$100,000 |
| ND |
North Dakota State Univ. |
Plan |
$100,000 |
| ND IT |
Sitting Bull College |
Plan |
$100,000 |
| CA |
San Jose State Univ. |
Plan |
$99,957 |
| CA |
U. of California-Berkeley |
Plan |
$67,100 |
| CA |
U. of Southern California |
Plan |
$100,000 |
| NV |
U. of Nevada-Reno |
Plan |
$50,000 |
| OR |
University of Oregon |
Plan |
$100,000 |
| WA |
Univ. of Washington-Seattle |
Plan |
$300,000 |
| TOTAL $ 2,920,139 |
In FY04, DRU plan and project awards totaled $2,920,139. In addition, $315,430 in management costs were awarded for a total of $3,235,569.
On March 1, 2003, FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. FEMA's continuing mission within the new department is to lead the effort to prepare the nation for all hazards and effectively manage federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates proactive mitigation activities, trains first responders, and manages the national Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration.
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