DIAMONDHEAD — The Mississippi insurance commissioner is pushing to restart a hurricane damage mitigation program lawmakers cut off after only one year. 

The Comprehensive Hurricane Damage Mitigation Program, created in 2024, offered grants of up to $10,000 for upgrades designed to help homes withstand hurricanes, which usually involves strengthening a roof. Supporters say mitigation reduces storm damage, speeds recovery and lowers insurance costs. 

During its test phase, the Mississippi Insurance Department awarded 28 grants and prepared for a broader rollout. But in a 2025 special session, lawmakers revoked the department’s authority to spend $5 million already set aside, despite more than 1,200 homeowners expressing interest. 

Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said he plans to ask lawmakers to restore funding in early 2026 so the program can resume. If revived, it could help mitigate about 500 homes in what remains the only Gulf Coast state without an active mitigation program. 

Why lawmakers pulled funding 

At the Capitol earlier this year, lawmakers questioned whether the program could be implemented effectively. 

Republican Sen. David Parker, who represents DeSoto County, told colleagues he had not seen a “nuts and bolts” plan for how the department would roll out the program. 

“There is some concern that, so far, the $5 million has not been tapped,” Parker said. “Over the last two years, I’ve heard concerns from the Coast and continue to work to try to make sure the money we are setting aside for mitigation of the Coast is actually going to be put to use.”

Harrison County Sen. Scott DeLano, a Republican, raised similar concerns and said the department had promised hundreds of homes would be mitigated within 18 months but only completed about 30.

“The Department of Insurance could not demonstrate the ability to establish a program within the 18-month period that they said they would,” DeLano said. 

Insurance department officials said it provided updates during the 2025 regular session and has not received further requests for information since. 

Push for mitigation 

While lawmakers debated the program’s rollout, early participants said they saw the impact. 

Diamondhead resident Dana Bordelon received a new roof through the pilot program — her first replacement in nearly 20 years. The upgrade included reinforced shingles, a sealed roof deck and stabilizing nails designed to keep water out. 

“When (the program) came up, I said, ‘Well, that sounds perfect to me,’ because it gives me that little added level of security with the structural aspect of things … it’s kind of given me a little bit more peace of mind,” she said. 

Her roof was quoted at about $15,000. The program covered $10,000 of that cost, and her insurance premiums dropped by about 25%. 

Bordelon bought her current home just after Katrina, after her last house was reduced to a slab. She said she knew from experience she couldn’t delay the cost of a new roof much longer. 

Chaney said the goal of the program is resilience first, with savings as a bonus. 

“The goal is to have a home that can withstand up to a Category 3 (hurricane) and keep the roof on the house — not for people to ride the hurricane out, but just to have a house to come back to,” he said. “A byproduct of that is you get a reduction in insurance.” 

He said the program was not funded by taxpayers. Instead, the $5 million came from fees paid by insurance companies transferred through the Mississippi Surplus Lines Association.

The IBHS FORTIFIED standard 

Behind the discounts is the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety’s FORTIFIED standard, a construction guideline developed to reduce storm losses. 

Fred Malik, managing director of IBHS FORTIFIED programs, said the standard can be built into a normal roof installation and typically adds between $1,500 and $3,000 to the cost. 

“It’s got the science-backed standard … It has a network of certified contractors and evaluators to do the verification component, and that third-party verification gives homeowners confidence that the technical things that make the difference are actually carried out,” Malik said. 

The program was modeled after Alabama’s Strengthen Alabama Homes initiative, which has mitigated more than 9,000 houses since 2016. That effort also encouraged insurers to offer discounts for FORTIFIED roofs — something Mississippi insurers already do. 

Research by the Alabama Department of Insurance and the University of Alabama found that after Hurricane Sally in 2020, homeowners with a FORTIFIED roof were 66% less likely to file a claim. 

Malik said the stakes are high for communities that do not adopt stronger building codes or mitigation standards. 

“Unfortunately, for communities that are slow to move in the direction of stronger, engineering-based codes … then we can expect to see the same kinds of repetitive damage and prolonged recovery efforts that we’ve seen following storms like Katrina,” he said. 

Push for reinstatement 

Bordelon said she was disappointed to hear the program lost momentum, especially with other aging roofs in her neighborhood. 

“I know we have a lot of neighbors who are in similar circumstances to me,” she said. “I feel for people who are trying to make a note and pay their insurance, and they have children, and it’s got to be really, really hard.”

As Mississippi homeowners continue to face high premiums, DeLano said he hopes the department and lawmakers can reach an agreement next session. He suggested administrative changes could help the program win approval.

“If Mike Chaney would allow a third-party administrator to come in and run the program — i.e., someone who can demonstrate experience in managing windstorm mitigation programs in coastal areas — then I don’t see a problem in getting that approved,” DeLano said. 

Chaney said he favors keeping the program inside the Insurance Department, which he argues ensures quality and keeps costs under control. 

“We had a plan to make the insurance companies pay for the mitigation, not the taxpayers, and to be certain that we can control the cost of the mitigation — that’s the reason it’s run in-house, to be sure of the quality that’s done,” he said. 

A Senate bill that would have provided ongoing funding died last session, as did a House bill that suggested moving the program outside the department. 

“There’s a future to the program,” Chaney said. “What I request of the Legislature, specifically to the House, is that they give us immediate spending authority in the first two or three weeks in January 2026, and we could get the program back up and operating.”