Plymouth, IN-  This morning, Congressman Joe Donnelly presented Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter with a $200,000 check intended to aid in future flood mitigation efforts.

Donnelly contacted the City last year inquiring whether they might be interested in his seeking a FEMA Pre-disaster Mitigation Program grant on their behalf through the congressional appropriations process.  Plymouth officials asked Donnelly to pursue the grant, which he was able to do through the appropriations process.

The $200,000 was authorized when President Bush signed into law the Fiscal Year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act last month.  Plymouth will use the funds to voluntarily purchase and move structures out of an area that regularly floods, thus reducing the likelihood of damage and high costs associated with future flooding of the Yellow River.

“I was pleased to learn that the city of Plymouth received this pre-disaster mitigation grant, which will help prevent future flooding,” said Congressman Donnelly. “As we saw this past week, flooding can be disastrous, and I strongly support anything we can do to prevent it from happening in the future.”

“My administration would like to thank Congressman Donnelly, the former administration of Mayor Cook, and Plymouth resident Brent Martin for all their hard work putting together this grant,” said Mayor Senter.