Almost two decades after it was established by the Mississippi Legislature, a storm and flood-mitigation grant program now has some funding – $5 million to be transferred from the Mississippi Surplus Lines Association.

“The Legislature didn’t appropriate the money. I went out and found it,” state Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said last week after announcing the signing of the bill that authorized the funding.

Mississippi now joins the growing list of Southeastern states that have provided some type of fund mechanism to help property owners fortify their structures against damage from wind and, in Mississippi’s case, flooding, in exchange for insurance premium discounts.

The $5 million for coastal counties in the Magnolia State is a far cry from the $200 million set aside this year by Florida lawmakers for matching grants for the My Safe Florida Home statewide wind-mitigation program. But it’s a start – at a time that some experts have said mitigation programs may be the best way to reduce losses and modulate rates as storms appear to be gaining in frequency and intensity, officials said.

Mississippi Lawmakers authorized the fortification program in 2007 but never appropriated any funds for it, Chaney explained. With legislators reluctant to provide tax dollars, Chaney said he was able to tap into funds that had been building up in the surplus lines association for years. The association, a non-profit organization that works closely with the state Insurance Department on surplus lines matters, had accumulated as much as $9 million from the surplus lines tax and the stamping office fees, Chaney said.

“We’ve been planning on this since 2010,” he said.

Officials with the surplus lines association declined to comment about it last week.

This year, Mississippi House Bill 1705 authorized the transfer of the funding from the association to a fortification program trust fund. The governor signed the bill May 13. The program will provide grants of up to $10,000 per recipient, for homes that are retrofitted to standards developed by the Institute for Business and Home Safety. Mitigation work may include building or elevating homes above the flood line; installing hurricane straps for stronger roof-to-wall connections; adding storm shutters; and the purchase of flood insurance for vulnerable properties.

It’s only for the six Mississippi counties closest to the coastline. Chaney said he had hoped for a statewide program, including one that would help poultry farmers retrofit chicken houses to withstand high winds. But he said “politics” in the Capitol had blocked the statewide assistance plan. Perhaps next year the program can be expanded, he noted.

The Insurance Department also will be able to apply for public and private grants to help fortify homes, the bill notes. The department will soon issue a request for proposals on administering the program, and plans to have a web page available with more information on the grant program.

The text of HB 1705 can be seen here. A similar bill died in committee this spring.

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HARRISON COUNTY, Miss. (WAFB) – A Denham Springs woman was killed during a crash involving multiple motorcycles in Mississippi.

Authorities said the crash happened around 5 p.m. Sunday, May 26, on I-10 in Harrison County.

According to the Mississippi Highway Patrol, the victim who died is Amanda Holden, 43, of Denham Springs.

At the time of the crash, the husband of the victim, Roy Dale Holden Jr., 39, was traveling east on a motorcycle on the interstate with a 16-year-old passenger, authorities said. They added that the teen fell from the moving motorcycle.

Authorities said that Amanda Holden was also headed east on the interstate and swerved to avoid hitting the teen. Two other motorcycles also swerved out of the way.

Amanda Holden crashed and died at the scene as a result of her injuries, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol.

Two people were taken away from the scene in an ambulance, while two others were airlifted.

The crash remains under investigation.

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After two down years and a lot of frustrations, Mississippi State baseball is back in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. The Bulldogs put together a 38-21 season that included a 17-13 SEC record and fifth-place finish in league play. It was a big step back towards what’s expected in Starkville.

In fact, it was a strong enough season that many expected State would host a regional. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs were not announced as one of the 16 regional hosts yesterday evening. It was a controversial decision that Bulldog fans had plenty of opinions on.

The Diamond Dawgs will have to hit the road for regional play, and today, we learned where they’re headed.

MSU is off to ACC country. The Bulldogs are the 2-seed in the Charlottesville regional, hosted by #12 national seed Virginia. They’ll face 3-seed St. John’s on Friday for their opening game of regional play. Virginia will play 4-seed Penn.

St. John’s is 37-16-1 this season. They were strong in Big East play going 14-7 and winning the league tournament. The Red Storm opened the year with a win over Florida and earned solid series wins over Xavier and Creighton.

Virginia has lived up to their usual reputation. The Cavaliers are 41-15, going 18-12 in the ACC. They have a dangerous offense and picked up an impressive series win over North Carolina. Penn is in their second-straight regional after winning the Ivy League tournament. Last year they started 2-0 in the Auburn regional before dropping 2-straight to USM.

The Charlottesville regional is paired up with the Fayetteville regional. If State can advance through regionals, they’d most likely face a familiar foe in Arkansas for Super Regional play.

While there’s no guarantee State will face UVA, if they do, these programs have some history. The Bulldogs have fun memories in Charlottesville. In 2013, MSU played at UVA for Super Regionals. The Dawgs won the series 2-0 to advance to Omaha for the first time since 2007. That State team would be the first to advance to the National Championship Series.

In the 2021 College World Series, the Bulldogs faced the Cavs in the winner’s bracket. Down 4-0 and being no-hit through seven innings, State exploded for six runs in the top of 8th, highlighted by Tanner Allen’s unforgettable go-ahead 3-run homer, and went on to win 6-5. That State team, of course, would go on to win the first national title in school history.

While we’d love to see State playing in Starkville, this team has the makings of a dangerous 2-seed. If they can find some consistency at the plate, there’s no reason they can’t go on a run.