OLYMPIA — The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe will receive $68,536, and Jefferson County and Port Townsend will share $16,700 of the state’s first Emergency Management Preparedness Assistance Grants.
The grants are part of a $1.6 million outlay spread among 30 organizations, agencies and tribes.
The competitive grants were awarded for high-impact, short-term projects that included training for public officials and development of emergency plans.
Applications outnumbered grants by about a 3-to-1 margin.
Recipients will have about three months to complete their projects.
The Lower Elwha Klallam will use their grant to hire an emergency manager to comply with the National Incident Management System.
That person will train staff, first responders and tribal officials; update emergency plans; prepare to use the tsunami early warning system and off-site shelter; and conduct test exercises.
Jefferson County and the city of Port Townsend will use their funds to plan the continuity of government in the wake of a major disaster such as an earthquake.
