Strengthening Our Cities: A Message on Disaster Preparedness

The Mississippi Municipal League, through its Disaster Preparedness Task Force, has worked to create this page that will provide resources to help our members prepare for and respond to natural disasters. The links on this page provide important resources and information for pre-disaster planning and for disaster response.

Across the state of Mississippi, our cities and towns face an unpredictable array of natural disasters and emergency events. As the unified voice and support network for local governments, the Mississippi Municipal League is committed to ensuring your community has the resources, training, and operational frameworks required to withstand any crisis.

True disaster resilience is built long before a storm makes landfall or an emergency unfolds. It requires proactive planning, continuous training, and robust intergovernmental cooperation.

To ensure your municipality is fully equipped, we encourage you to review the information included on this page.

• Pre-Disaster Planning 
  • Basic Disaster Checklist
  • Emergency Accountability Planning

  • A Mississippi municipality should align its local emergency plans with the county's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (33-15-17) and establish clear communication protocols with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) county office during pre-planning. [1, 2]

  • Key Pre-Planning Steps

    • Integrate Plans: Coordinate municipal emergency procedures with the county's CEMP to ensure seamless operation during a natural disaster. [1, 2]
    • Establish Command Protocols: Acknowledge the county EMA as a coordinating lead while defining independent municipal resource management responsibilities within city limits. [1]
    • Participate in Training: Join county-led training programs, drills, and tabletop exercises to test joint emergency operations center (EOC) readiness. [1]
    • Establish Request Pathways: Agree on the formal process for requesting mutual aid, county assets, or state and federal assistance if municipal resources become overwhelmed. [1]
    • Mitigation and Hazard Identification: Share local hazard vulnerabilities, shelter capacities, and critical infrastructure data with county planners to feed into regional mitigation strategies. [1]

• Disaster Response
  • Emergency Declaration Template
  • FEMA Public Assistance

  • Core Forms of Assistance

    • Debris Removal: Covers the cost of clearing disaster-related debris from public roads, properties, and certain private areas. [1]
    • Emergency Protective Measures: Funds life-saving actions taken before, during, or after the disaster to protect public health, safety, and property. [1]
    • Permanent Infrastructure Restoration: Provides grants to repair, rebuild, or replace damaged public facilities and infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, water treatment plants, and public buildings. [1]
    • Hazard Mitigation: Offers additional funding to implement measures that protect damaged infrastructure from future disasters during the rebuilding process. [1]
      

  • Operational Support

    • Response Coordination: Coordinates the overall federal physical and logistical response, working alongside state and local emergency managers. [1, 2]
    • Damage Assessments: Collaborates with local officials during joint Preliminary Damage Assessments to determine the full scope of damage and required resource levels. [1, 2]
    • Funding Flow: Administers grants through a formal application process where local governments submit reimbursement requests via the state government. [1, 2]