FEMA has released $2,822,855 in Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) funds to Salem Township for the construction of another safe room in the Sandy Pines campground.
“It is a new shelter that will be in Phase 4 of Sandy Pines,” said Salem Township supervisor Jim Pitsch. “It is a two story shelter as I understand it —the first two story shelter in the country—that will protect over 1,100 people.”
The Pre-Disaster Mitigation program enables communities to implement critical mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate the risk of loss of life and property, said James K. Joseph, regional administrator, FEMA Region V.
“This project will give the community a safe room that can be used to protect residents and visitors in the Sandy Pines campground during times of severe weather.”
Last June, the first FEMA financed project in the park was completed. It was a $2.1 million project in which two new Convenience Centers replaced existing centers and were equipped as safe rooms with hardened concrete walls embedded with steel reinforcements. Sandy Pines paid $285,472 of the cost.
The rooms were built to withstand an EF-4 tornado with winds up to 250 mph. Convenience Center 5 holds 260 people and Convenience Center 6 holds 210.
However, more shelter is needed. Sandy Pines RV resort and campground has 2,200 sites and populations of up to 30,000 people on busy weekends, the largest population of any city in Allegan County, according to park president Gene VanKoevering.
“This is a great example of a community seizing the opportunity for hazard mitigation grants to enhance the safety of Michigan’s residents,” said Capt. Emmitt McGowan, Deputy State Director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and commander of the Michigan State Police, Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division.
PDM provides grants to state and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures. Through PDM, FEMA will pay $2,822,855 of the $3,784,088 eligible project cost. The remaining funds, $961,233, will be provided by Sandy Pines Wilderness Trails.
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