Florida Hurricane Loss Mitigation Program
The Hurricane Loss Mitigation Program (HLMP) is a state-funded initiative administered by the Florida Division of Emergency Management to reduce hurricane damage and property losses. The HLMP was established by the Bill Williams Residential Safety and Preparedness Act in 1999. The program is supported by a recurring $10 million annual appropriation from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, a state trust fund. The HLMP supports mitigation efforts that include strengthening public hurricane shelters, retrofitting homes and mobile homes, and funding hurricane loss research.
The program operates through several targeted components. $7 million of the annual $10 million is allocated for improving community resilience through retrofits and updating homes, public education, and hurricane research. Of this, up to $3.5 million can be used on community resilience, such as retrofits, wind and flood mitigation, and public outreach. The Gulf Coast State College Mobile Home Tie-Down Program uses $2.8 million for a pilot to educate and test tie-down systems, which are used to increase mobile home wind resistance. The Hurricane Loss Reduction Research Program, housed at Florida International University’s International Hurricane Research Center, receives approximately $700,000 annually to study building performance, evacuation behavior, and mitigation effectiveness.
An additional program allocates the remaining $3 million annually for construct or retrofit public hurricane shelters. These projects prioritize counties identified in the state’s Shelter Retrofit Report as having shelter deficits and focus on maximizing the cost-effectiveness of state investments.
The program is authorized under Section 215.559 of the Florida Statutes. The program was most recently amended with CS/CS/HB 837 (2022) (Ch. 2022-137, Laws of Florida) to authorize the expanded use of funds and extend the program’s statutory sunset date from June 30, 2022, to June 30, 2032.
Publication Date: July 1, 2022
Related Organizations:
- State of Florida
- Florida State Legislature
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