Duke Energy boosts hurricane response resources across state

Listen to this article

Thirty-four South Carolina nonprofits and government agencies stretching from the mountains to the ocean are receiving Duke Energy grants to help prepare for hurricane season.

Duke Energy today announced more than $500,000 in microgrants to help those organizations increase resiliency and ability to help residents prepare for and recover from devastation brought by significant weather events.

“The key to successful emergency preparedness and recovery after a major storm begins and ends at the local level,” Mike Callahan, Duke Energy’s South Carolina president, said in a news release. “Households and businesses across the state in recent years have endured a number of significant and costly storms. Helping our communities prepare for and recover from these events takes significant resources and these grants will help give our fellow first responders the tools and training they need to tackle whatever Mother Nature throws our way.”

A list of the nonprofits and organizations receiving grants, including the amount and intended purpose, is available online (pdf).

Duke Energy’s Emergency Preparedness and Storm Resiliency Grant Program was designed to help organizations with roles in emergency preparedness increase their resiliency to these events through advanced preparation, planning, equipment and training, the release said. The program was first announced in March at the annual gathering of the state’s emergency managers in Myrtle Beach, and grantees were notified of their successful requests for funding mid-May. Applicants could request funds up to $20,000. Nonprofits and governmental entities across all regions of the state were eligible to apply.