The U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary awarded almost $312 million to 13 states affected by natural disasters in 2008.

Iowa received the largest portion of money, $84.1 million.

The HUD grant is supposed to be used toward developing forward-thinking land-use plans that reduce development in high-risk areas, buyout payments for homeowners living in high-risk areas, optional relocation payments to encourage residents to move to safer locations, home improvement grants to reduce damage risks and improving and enforcing building codes, according to the HUD website.

“An independent study by the National Institute of Building Sciences, every dollar spent on disaster mitigation activities saves taxpayers $4 in future disaster recovery expenses,” according to the website.

Throughout the past two years, HUD has allocated a little more than $5.6 billion in recovery funding through the Community Development Block Grant to the 13 states, according to the website. The Disaster Recovery Enhancement Fund was created to support long-term recovery efforts after many natural disasters in 2008.

Thirteen states, including Iowa, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Illinois were eligible for additional Community Development Block Grant funds because of the significant investment they have made to disaster mitigation, according to the website.

Jeremy Davis, a member of the Ames City Council, said he hasn’t been made aware of whether Ames will be receiving any of the funds.