FEMA DIRECTOR TO BE HERE TODAY

The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency will formally welcome Cape Girardeau into FEMA's Project Impact during a ceremony today at the Show Me Center.

The ceremony, which is open to the public, begins at 11 a.m.

Project Impact is a nationwide FEMA initiative to encourage communities to become more disaster resistant.

Cape Girardeau has received a $500,000 grant through the program to fund a number of disaster mitigation projects over the next two years. Those projects include installing seismic protection devices on the city's water storage tank and purchasing an emergency generator for the water plant.

FEMA Director James Lee Witt originated the Project Impact concept. Cape Girardeau is the first city in Missouri to be recognized under the program.

Among the actions it encourages are developing contingency plans to keep businesses up and running, and helping citizens maintain disaster preparedness.

"Cape Girardeau has seen its share of disasters, and through this partnership among governmental entities, businesses and private citizens, we believe that the impact of future disasters can and will be reduced," Witt stated in a press release. "The city already has taken great steps to move toward becoming more disaster resistant, and now this momentum will continue."

Under the program, the city will receive technical and financial support from FEMA and the State Emergency Management Agency as well as other public and private partners.

John A. Miller, FEMA's regional director, said the program will prepare the city, which has experienced a number of natural disasters, for the future.

"Project Impact provides a great opportunity to keep the devastation of years past from being as damaging in the future," Miller said. "For a city with a history of tornadoes, flooding events and frequent earthquakes, this can be a real benefit."

In addition to Witt, SEMA Director Jerry Uhlmann, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, Mayor Al Spradling III, area state legislators and numerous other state and local officials are expected to attend the signing ceremony.

Witt will also be the guest speaker at the Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee. That event is also at the Show Me Center and begins at 7:30 a.m.

Afterward, Witt and other officials will tour various mitigation projects under way or already completed. Project sites include the Cape LaCroix Creek-Walker Branch flood-control project and the Mississippi River flood-buyout areas.