Mayor Mike Cooper is pleased to announce that the City of Covington is the recipient of a Community Resiliency Grant in the amount of $45,000, awarded through the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. The grant was awarded for the purpose of developing a Flood Preparation and Response Plan and was written by Christopher Brown, the City’s Building Official and Floodplain Administrator.
“The plan will enable the City to streamline its planning and response operations immediately preceding and during a flooding event,” stated Chris Brown.
Specifically, the plan will help to forecast where flooding will occur, utilizing real-time stream gauge information, so that City work crews are able to direct resources to the areas that will be impacted more efficiently. The plan will use valuable information collected by Fire, Police, and Public Works Departments of the city during the March 2016 flood event.
The City of Covington is continually striving to better serve its residents, and this grant and plan will allow both staff and citizens to have a better understanding of how floodwaters affect our City.
“Having a document that preplans response activities based upon known river stage elevations will enable us to provide our citizens with enough time to protect life and property in a more controlled manner.” – Mayor Mike Cooper
A request for proposals seeking consultants interested in preparing the plan will be advertised in the near future. For More Information, contact Bridget Watson: 985-898-4715 bwatson@covla.com
