The public will have a chance to learn about a government-funded program for disaster-related housing elevation during a meeting next week in Chocowinity.

Locally, the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program was triggered in response to Hurricane Irene.

An open meeting on the program will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Chocowinity Fire Department off N.C. Highway 33.

Representatives of Beaufort County government, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the N.C. Division of Emergency Management will be on hand to answer questions about the program.

The program pays 100 percent of the cost of housing elevation for qualified applicants, said John Pack, Beaufort County’s emergency management coordinator.

As of Thursday, the county had received 108 applications for the program, Pack said.

The state-federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program has been used to elevate Beaufort County homes following previous hurricanes, Pack pointed out.

For more information on the meeting, call the county’s emergency-management office at 252-946-2046.