The following is a review of additional disaster housing recovery developments since the last edition of Memo to Members and Partners (for the article in the previous Memo, see 10/14).
Federal Action & National News
Six governors sent a letter to congressional leadership pushing for faster disaster recovery funding. The governors, led by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D), called for the passage of the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act” ensure congressionally approved funding gets to disaster areas more quickly.
Disaster mitigation workers often suffer from a lack of workplace safety and labor protections. The workers, often recent immigrants, commonly work for seven days a week mucking and rebuilding homes as independent contractors.
Monarch Housing Associates of New Jersey released a blog on climate change’s impact on the affordable housing crisis.
Tropical Storm Imelda & Hurricane Harvey
Texas
As the Houston municipal elections draw closer, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Texas Governor Greg Abbott have continued to argue publicly about the cause of Houston’s slow recovery from Hurricane Harvey.
A disaster recovery loan agent for the Small Business Administration (SBA) was indicted for stealing personal information from applicants for Hurricane Harvey assistance. The agent added himself to victims’ existing financial accounts and used their information to open new lines of credit.
California Wildfires
The Sandalwood Fire has damaged more than 70 mobile homes and killed at least one person in Riverside County within the Villa Calimesa Mobile Home Park and surrounding area. Sources say the fire started on October 10 when burning trash from a garbage truck was dumped into nearby dry grass and quickly spread.
Hurricane Michael
Florida
Housing recovery efforts are progressing slowly in the Florida Panhandle, largely due to the lack of affordable housing. Officials estimate that in the Panhandle town Panama City about 8,000-9,000 people, twenty-five percent of the town’s population, vacated the area because of the lack of housing.
At the one year mark of recovery efforts for Hurricane Michael, FEMA reiterated its intention to see the recovery through. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) also emphasized the amount of work still left to be done and said more assistance would be coming soon.
Florida is taking steps to address the mental health needs of the residents of the Florida Panhandle after Hurricane Michael by deploying Florida’s first disaster recovery mental health coordinator. This resource could be an important one for the wellbeing of low-income hurricane survivors.
Georgia
A year after Hurricane Michael, South Georgia is still recovering from its effects. With some of the poorest counties in the state, the region suffered substantial housing, agricultural, and financial damage and is just now starting to rebound.
Hurricane Florence & Hurricane Dorian
North Carolina
Legal aid attorneys with the North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center will conduct a Disaster Recovery Legal Services Bootcamp on November 15.
HUD has announced that North Carolina’s spending of Hurricane Michael disaster recovery relief is finally on schedule. Part of this spending includes building affordable housing in hurricane-impacted counties.
After FEMA denied North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s request for assistance after Hurricane Dorian, the state government is looking for additional sources of assistance. North Carolina Senators Thom Tillis (NC) and Senator Richard Burr (NC) called into question the governor’s strategy, implying the governor knew such a request would be denied.
2016 and 2017 Disasters
2016 West Virginia Floods: State officials in West Virginia are disputing claims that a home construction firm rebuilding homes lost in the 2016 floods is overcharging the government and skirting state law.
2016 Louisiana Flooding: HUD has issued more guidance on the reimbursement of funds to homeowners who paid for SBA loans.
Hurricane Maria: Advocates and residents claim Puerto Rico’s R3 program for disaster recovery is displacing low-income people while enriching large developers.