The City of Lowell was awarded funding to complete the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Planning Grant program and update the City’s Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP).
- The MVP grant program provides technical and financial support for cities and towns across the Commonwealth to plan for, and mitigate the impacts from, climate change.
- The HMP is part of a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program that involves identifying the risks and vulnerabilities associated with natural disasters, and developing long-term strategies for protecting people and property from future hazard events.
By completing this project, Lowell is now eligible for federal FEMA Grant programs, as well as state MVP Action Grants for the implementation of climate adaptation projects.
The Lowell MVP-HMP project involved the following work:
- Convening a Core Team of municipal department heads who provided key input through meetings, online surveys, and interviews.
- Engaging stakeholders through virtual Community Resilience Building (CRB) webinars
- Developing an interactive, online hazard map
- Engaging the public through a project webpage, online video and survey, and virtual Public Listening Session Webinar
- Conducting a vulnerability and risk assessment of historic hazards and the potential impact of climate change.
- Reviewing progress on the previous hazard mitigation plan.
- Documenting the City’s capacity to mitigate and respond to hazards.
- Developing an action and implementation strategy.
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