Gloucester, Mathews and Middlesex counties were recently awarded $145,000 in state grant money for evacuation preparedness and regional sheltering, planning and exercises.

According to Gloucester’s emergency services coordinator Creig Moore, the long-term project, which is expected to last a year or more, seeks to fill the gap for residents displaced by a storm or natural disaster, providing them with short-term shelter until federal dollars are awarded or other arrangements can be made for their shelter in the long term.

Representatives from each of the three counties, along with members of the Olson Group, the consultant managing the project, attended a kick-off meeting Dec. 5 in Gloucester’s Emergency Operations Center.

Moore, who serves as Gloucester’s property manager for the project, said Hurricane Isabel, which ravaged much of the area in 2003, will be used as a benchmark throughout the process. “What lessons can we learn and how can we address them,&r...