(a) “Agency” means the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, created by Section 33-15-7.

(b) “Director” means the Director of Emergency Management, appointed pursuant to Section 33-15-7.

(c) “Emergency management” means the preparation for, the mitigation of, the response to, and the recovery from emergencies and disasters. Specific emergency management responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

(i) Reduction of vulnerability of people and communities of this state to damage, injury and loss of life and property resulting from natural, technological or man-made emergencies or hostile military paramilitary action.

(ii) Preparation for prompt and efficient response and recovery to protect lives and property affected by emergencies.

(iii) Response to emergencies using all systems, plans and resources necessary to preserve adequately the health, safety and welfare of persons or property affected by the emergency.

(iv) Recovery from emergencies by providing for the rapid and orderly start of restoration and rehabilitation of persons and property affected by emergencies.

(v) Provision of an emergency management system embodying all aspects of preemergency preparedness and postemergency response, recovery and mitigation.

(vi) Assistance in anticipation, recognition, appraisal, prevention and mitigation of emergencies which may be caused or aggravated by inadequate planning for, and regulation of public and private facilities and land use.

(d) “Civil defense,” whenever it appears in the laws of the State of Mississippi, shall mean “emergency management” unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(e) “State of war emergency” means the condition which exists immediately, with or without a proclamation thereof by the Governor, whenever this state or nation is attacked by an enemy of the United States or upon receipt by the state of a warning from the federal government indicating that such an attack is probable or imminent.

(f) “State of emergency” means the duly proclaimed existence of conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons or property within the state caused by air or water pollution, fire, flood, storm, epidemic, earthquake, hurricane, resource shortages, or other natural or man-made conditions other than conditions causing a “state of war emergency,” which conditions by reasons of their magnitude are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single county and/or municipality and requires combined forces of the state to combat.

(g) “Local emergency” means the duly proclaimed existence of conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the territorial limits of a county and/or municipality caused by such conditions as air or water pollution, fire, flood, storm, epidemic, earthquake, hurricane, resource shortages or other natural or man-made conditions, which conditions are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of the political subdivision and require the combined forces of other subdivisions or of the state to combat.

(h) “Emergency” means any occurrence, or threat thereof, whether natural, technological, or man-made, in war or in peace, which results or may result in substantial injury or harm to the population or substantial damage to or loss of property.

(i) “Man-made emergency” means an emergency caused by an action against persons or society, including, but not limited to, emergency attack, sabotage, terrorism, civil unrest or other action impairing the orderly administration of government.

(j) “Natural emergency” means an emergency caused by a natural event, including, but not limited to, a hurricane, a storm, a flood, severe wave action, a drought or an earthquake.

(k) “Technological emergency” means an emergency caused by a technological failure or accident, including, but not limited to, an explosion, transportation accident, radiological accident, or chemical or other hazardous material incident.

(l) “Local emergency management agency” means an organization created to discharge the emergency management responsibilities and functions of a political subdivision.

(m) “Disaster” means any natural, technological or civil emergency as defined in this section that causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to result in a declaration of an emergency by a county or municipality, the Governor or the President of the United States. Disasters shall be identified by the severity of resulting damage, as follows:

(i) “Catastrophic disaster” means a disaster that will require massive state and federal assistance, including immediate military involvement.

(ii) “Major disaster” means a disaster that will likely exceed local capabilities and require a broad range of state and federal assistance.

(iii) “Minor disaster” means a disaster that is likely to be within the response capabilities of local government and to result in only a minimal need for state or federal assistance.

(n) “Disaster Reservist” means any person hired on a temporary basis pursuant to State Personnel Board policies and procedures regulating personal service contracts, that is hired to perform specific tasks related to a Governor’s State of Emergency, or by an emergency or disaster declaration of the President of the United States, by the agency, and is assigned to perform such duties as may be required under the direction of the appropriate agency supervisor.

(o) “Emergency impact area” means the area of the state in which market conditions exist due to a state of emergency creating a likelihood that prices ordinarily charged for goods and services could be raised unfairly due to the underlying emergency.

(p) “Political subdivision” means a local government created by the State of Mississippi to assist in fulfilling the state’s obligations. The term “political subdivision” includes levee districts.