Additional Updates on Disaster Housing Recovery

The following is a review of additional housing recovery developments related to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and the California wildfires since last week’s Memo to Members and Partners (for the article in last week’s Memo, see 11/6). NLIHC also posts this information on our On the Home Front blog.


General Updates

The NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) developed a two-page presentation of the 10 top priorities that should be included in the next disaster supplemental spending bill. This top 10 list was developed by local, state, and national groups through the DHRC policy working group. NLIHC staff have been sharing it with Congressional staff and will follow up with Hill meetings for the policy working group in the coming days. DC advocates are urged to participate in these meetings. Advocates outside the DC area are encouraged to share the top 10 list with their congressional delegations and local leaders.

NLIHC has updated its summary of known application deadlines from the FEMA website. The summary includes deadlines for programs administered by FEMA, SBA, DOL, SNAP, and HUD.

According to The HillFEMA is finalizing plans to airlift Puerto Ricans to Florida and New York – without any clear plan for meeting their housing needs when they arrive.


California Wildfires

FEMA

By the Numbers: (as of 11/9)

  • 3,859 Individual Assistance (IA) applications approved*
  • $9,673,930 Individual & Household Program (IHP) approved*
  • $6,332,234 Housing Assistance (HA) approved*
  • $3,341,696 Other Needs Assistance (ONA) approved*

*Assistance dollars approved but not necessarily disbursed.


Hurricane Maria

FEMA

Puerto Rico

By the Numbers: (as of 11/9)

  • 225,519 Individual Assistance (IA) applications approved*
  • $125,396,142 Individual & Household Program (IHP) approved*
  • $104,434,172 Other Needs Assistance (ONA) approved*
  • $426,789,708 Public Assistance Grants (PA) obligated, all of which are for Emergency Work (Categories A-B) **

*Assistance dollars approved but not necessarily disbursed.

**Funds made available to the state via electronic transfer following FEMA's final review and approval of Public Assistance projects

President Trump amended his Puerto Rico disaster declaration, authorizing a 90% federal cost-share for permanent work under FEMA’s Public Assistance Program, Categories C-G. According to White House and FEMA media releases, Puerto Rico elected to participate in alternative procedures authorized under section 428 of the Robert T. Stafford Act that conditions assistance on the existence of additional controls on project cost-estimations and project management.

FEMA reports that power is restored to 41% of the island of Puerto Rico, 55 of 68 hospitals are back on the power grid, 83% of the population has potable drinking water, and 92.5% of residents have access to cell phone service.

U.S. Virgin Islands

FEMA

By the Numbers: (as of 11/9)

  • 3,107 Individual Assistance (IA) applications approved*
  • $3,038,106 Individual & Household Program (IHP) approved*
  • $1,200,849 Housing Assistance (HA) approved*
  • $1,837,257 Other Needs Assistance (ONA) approved*
  • $10,912,004 Emergency Work (Categories A-B) dollars obligated**

*Assistance dollars approved but not necessarily disbursed.

**Funds made available to the state via electronic transfer following FEMA’s final review and approval of Public Assistance projects.

FEMA published an overview of new and expanded programs available to survivors of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the U.S. Virgin Islands. These programs address food assistance, access to medicine, unemployment assistance, temporary roofing, individual assistance, and disaster loans.

Local Perspectives

At least 500 children who left Puerto Rico with their families have enrolled in public schools in Connecticut. Eighty-five percent of the students joined the state’s lowest-achieving districts, which are already struggling. In Hartford, where the largest number enrolled, the district provides the new Puerto Rican students with immediate enrollment, school supplies, winter coats, food, and other supplies. The state education department is continuing to ensure districts provide the needed services, including special education and free lunch.

Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans have left the island following Hurricane Maria. Many left for Central Florida (Orlando area), where there has long been a significant Puerto Rican population (345,000 people). These evacuees are having trouble finding affordable housing, however. Officials at the county level have asked FEMA and the Florida Division of Emergency Management (DEM) about a plan to help house evacuees, but no such plan appears to exist, despite the lack of affordable housing before Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Although displaced Puerto Ricans are eligible for Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA), just 15 hotels in the three-county area are participating. DEM asserts that sheltering is a local, not state or federal, obligation.


Hurricane Irma

FEMA

Florida

By the Numbers: (as of 11/9)

  • 736,199 Individual Assistance (IA) applications approved*
  • $899,739,894 Individual & Household Program (IHP) approved*
  • $618,077,080 Housing Assistance (HA) approved*
  • $281,662,813 Other Needs Assistance (ONA) approved*

*Assistance dollars approved but not necessarily disbursed.

Georgia

By the Numbers: (as of 11/9)

  • 8,925 Individual Assistance (IA) applications approved*
  • $12,048,281 Individual & Household Program (IHP) approved*
  • $8,777,267 Housing Assistance (HA) approved*
  • $3,271,014 Other Needs Assistance (ONA) approved*
  • $26,488 Total Public Assistance Grants (PA) obligated, all for emergency work (Categories A-B)**

*Assistance dollars approved but not necessarily disbursed.

**Funds made available to the state via electronic transfer following FEMA’s final review and approval of Public Assistance projects.

Puerto Rico

By the Numbers: (as of 11/9)

  • 859 Individual Assistance (IA) applications approved*
  • $1,917,498 Individual & Household Program (IHP) approved*
  • $1,002,435 Housing Assistance (HA) approved*
  • $915,064 Other Needs Assistance (ONA) approved*
  • $1,316,250 Total Public Assistance Grants (PA) obligated, all for emergency work (Categories A-B)**

*Assistance dollars approved but not necessarily disbursed.

**Funds made available to the state via electronic transfer following FEMA’s final review and approval of Public Assistance projects.

U.S. Virgin Islands

By the Numbers: (as of 11/9)

  • 3,886 Individual Assistance (IA) applications approved*
  • $5,888,156 Individual & Household Program (IHP) approved*
  • $3,686,640 Housing Assistance (HA) approved*
  • $2,201,516 Other Needs Assistance (ONA) approved*
  • $25,567,068 Public Assistance Grants (PA) obligated, all of which are for Emergency Work (Categories A-B) **

*Assistance dollars approved but not necessarily disbursed.

**Funds made available to the State via electronic transfer following FEMA's final review and approval of Public Assistance projects.

South Carolina

Three additional counties have been approved for Public Assistance funding. An additional 27 counties and the Catawba Indian Nation are now eligible for emergency protective measures [Category B] under FEMA’s Public Assistance program.

Local Perspectives

Florida residents seeking to apply for Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) have endured extremely long lines and prematurely closed application sites. Last week, the University of Miami Health Rights Clinic sued Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) for not adequately accommodating people with disabilities. Advocates repeatedly requested DCF to seek a waiver from USDA to allow elderly or disabled people to apply by telephone.

Governor Rick Scott directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) to elevate the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) to Level 2. This activates the State Emergency Response Team, which will help coordinate efforts between federal, state, and local emergency management agencies. The decision is in response to the increasing number of Puerto Ricans coming to Florida after Hurricane Maria. “This direction will also facilitate greater planning and support a more efficient and coordinated response,” Governor Scott stated.


Hurricane Harvey

FEMA

Texas

By the Numbers: (as of 11/2)

  • 347,474 Individual Assistance (IA) applications approved*
  • $1,364,272,504 Individual & Household Program (IHP) approved*
  • $1,061,580,371 Housing Assistance (HA) approved*
  • $302,692,133 Other Needs Assistance (ONA) approved*
  • $478,212,770 Public Assistance Grants (PA) obligated**
  • $415,274,645 Emergency Work (Categories A-B) obligated**

*Assistance dollars approved but not necessarily disbursed.

**Funds made available to the state via electronic transfer following FEMA's final review and approval of Public Assistance projects.

Local Perspectives

Advocates Press for Fair Housing Action

The Texas Low Income Housing Information Service (Texas Housers) sent a letter to HUD on October 31 demanding HUD take immediate action to examine the validity of current civil rights certifications made by the City of Houston and the Houston Housing Authority (HHA). On January 11, 2017, HUD determined that the City violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, citing evidence of intentional racial discrimination and perpetuation of segregation. The Texas Housers’ letter presents additional evidence to support HUD’s obligation to reject the City’s and HHA’s subsequent certifications that they are complying not only with Title VI, but also with the Fair Housing Act and Section 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.

Since HUD’s January determination, HUD has failed to deliver a draft Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) to outline a path for the City to voluntarily comply. Texas Housers wrote that if HUD provides a VCA by November 15, Texas Housers will not sue HUD. In addition, HUD and the City must demonstrate concrete progress toward concluding a VCA by November 30. If HUD and Houston do not take corrective action, any CDBG-DR Houston might receive, as well as its regular annual Entitlement CDBG allocations and other HUD financial assistance, might be at risk.

Texas Housers asserts that any VCA should address all of the issues identified in HUD’s January letter. A VCA must also include training of elected and appointed officials on addressing and resisting discriminatory community opposition to the siting of affordable housing. A VCA must identify areas of segregation and outline remedial steps, including a robust housing mobility program that provides incentives to property owners to accept Housing Choice Vouchers in all parts of Houston. A VCA must also identify additional actions that will remediate the City’s practices related to the siting of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) housing and must require incentives for developers to ensure that any newly constructed LIHTC housing is located in census tracts with a poverty rate less than 20%.


Texas State Government

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas House and Senate leaders announced the approval of $90 million in emergency funding for the removal of debris caused by Hurricane Harvey. Although FEMA provides federal financial assistance for debris removal, city and county governments are still responsible for 10% of those associated costs. This allocation at the state level will help ease the financial burden for local governments.

According to a weekly newsletter from the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas:

  • The Texas attorney general sent 127 violation notices to businesses accused of price-gauging during Hurricane Harvey. All of these cases are related to gas stations hiking up prices.
  • FEMA has received 865 requests from jurisdictions for Public Assistance.
  • The last emergency shelter closed on October 28.
  • FEMA completed 540,249 home inspections as of November 1.
  • Land Commissioner George P. Bush kicked off the General Land Office’s Direct Assistance for Limited Home Repair program, which provides permanent repairs to homes with damages between $17,000 and $60,000.