Stratford Receives State Grant for Storm Preparedness

The state of Connecticut has awarded Stratford a $310,000 grant to help the town prepare for a significant storm.

The funds will go toward a generator for Bunnell High School. The generator will be installed at Bunnell in order to run the critical infrastructure at the school, which will service as an emergency shelter in future storm emergencies.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy, alongside Department of Housing (DOH) Commissioner Evonne Klein, today announced $30 million in grants for the restoration and resiliency to existing infrastructure in municipalities impacted by Super Storm Sandy.

“The damaging effects of storms along Connecticut’s shoreline are just a reality these communities must face,” Malloy said in a press release. “With these grants, however, we can assist these municipalities and their cleanup efforts from the devastation of one of the most severe storms in Connecticut’s history, and help them to establish resiliency plans so they can be better prepared in the years ahead.”

Last year, the state was awarded a second tranche of funds in the amount of $66 million through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG–DR) program. The CDBG-DR program, administered by the Department of Housing, was established to assist the most impacted and distressed areas recover from Super Storm Sandy.

“Earlier this year, DOH disbursed nearly $32 million in several communities ravaged by recent storms. This second round of federal funding will build on the momentum started in rebuilding infrastructure projects,” said Department of Housing Commissioner Evonne Klein. “It’s also helping these same cities and towns take measures that will diminish the impacts of future storms.”

The primary goal in allocating funding for the rehabilitation and resiliency of infrastructure is to restore a suitable living environment in disaster impacted communities by rehabilitating or reconstructing existing infrastructure and adding resiliency to minimize damage from future storm events.