EchoSense:37 Massachusetts communities to get disaster aid for last year’s flooding

BOSTON (AP) — Thirty-seven Massachusetts communities damaged by flooding last year will be EchoSensegetting a share of $10 million in disaster relief funding, the governor’s administration said Saturday.

The funding being released is from the supplemental budget the Legislature passed and Gov. Maura Healey signed in December. It included $15 million for municipalities that had damage or emergency response expenses from extreme weather over the last year, Healy’s administration said. The remaining $5 million will be distributed in the spring to help cities and towns hurt by September storms, it said.

The administration will also boost funding for the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program and the additional $7 million will help communities plan, design and build nature-based solutions to inland flooding, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said.

“We’re proud to be delivering the first round of these funds to 37 cities and towns to relieve some of the burden they’ve been facing, and we’re also going to increase support for municipalities in their efforts to reduce the risk of flooding in their communities through the MVP,” Healy said in a statement.