The NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition is convening and supporting disaster-impacted communities to ensure that federal disaster recovery efforts reach all impacted households, including the lowest-income and most marginalized people who are often the hardest-hit by disasters and have the fewest resources to recover.
Wildfires in the West
Vice highlights the challenges unhoused individuals on the West Coast, who are unwillingly at the frontlines of the climate crisis, face amid the wildfires and hazardous air quality.
Oregon (DR-4562-OR)
Some Oregon residents report difficulties accessing FEMA assistance in the wake of the wildfires, referring to FEMA’s process as “worse than fighting the fire.” Residents have expressed frustration with navigating FEMA’s bureaucratic application process, having applications repeatedly denied, and dealing with the agency’s lack of guidance and response.
California residents who moved north seeking affordable housing are now facing homelessness after the wildfires have caused widespread destruction in Oregon. About 40,000 people initially evacuated and thousands were still at emergency shelters or hotels on September 18 in Oregon. Homeless encampments are growing in the area surrounding Talent and Phoenix, where the wildfires destroyed about 2,500 trailers, apartments, and homes.
Bloomberg CityLab examines how the wildfires have magnified the region’s affordable housing crisis. Oregon had an acute housing shortage before the fires destroyed the “vast majority” of low-to-moderately priced housing in Jackson County.
Portland’s Charles Jordan Community Center will remain open as a temporary emergency shelter until the end of March 2021. The center served as a coronavirus shelter until the end of July and was recently opened again to provide space for people experiencing homelessness to escape the hazardous air quality due to the wildfires.
The Portland Tribune reports on a program launched by Oregon Harbor of Hope, a nonprofit homeless agency, that helps match homeowners willing to share spare bedrooms with people needing affordable places to live. The program, called Home Share Oregon, has expanded to find rooms for people displaced by this summer’s wildfires.
Hurricane Laura
Louisiana (DR-4559-LA)
Direct Temporary Housing Assistance has been approved for certain eligible applicants in Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, and Vernon parishes. Temporary Housing Units, Direct Lease, and Multi-Family Lease and Repair may be provided.
Louisiana renters whose home or property was damaged by Hurricane Laura can apply for FEMA Individual Assistance.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance is available to certain workers who lost income as a direct result of Hurricane Laura in Louisiana.
Buzzfeed News reports dozens of residents of two federally subsidized senior housing projects in Lake Charles waited up to 72 hours for assistance without food, water, or power after Hurricane Laura. Various federal, state, and local agencies essentially stated the seniors’ welfare was not their responsibility. “Our disaster and response program is fundamentally broken. We need to start over,” said NLIHC Vice President of Public Policy Sarah Saadian.
Thousands of Hurricane Laura evacuees in North Texas were given short notice that they had to relocate to new hotels because the state decided to consolidate the number of shelter hotels from 40 to eight.
Dr. Tyson Green from Lake Charles, Louisiana, shares about the destruction Hurricane Laura wreaked on his town in a Newsweek article. Dr. Green discusses the urgent need for FEMA trailers to house people who are homeless.
Hurricane Sally
Alabama (DR-4563-AL)
President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Alabama in the areas affected by Hurricane Sally. This action makes FEMA’s Individual Assistance program available to eligible individuals in Baldwin, Escambia, and Mobile counties.
Florida (DR-4564-FL)
President Trump approved a major disaster declaration for Florida in the areas affected by Hurricane Sally. Federal funding is available through FEMA’s Public Assistance (PA) program for emergency work and repair or replacement of facilities in Escambia County. Emergency protective measures, including any direct federal assistance, will be available in 12 Florida counties.
Iowa Derecho (DR-4557-IA)
FEMA on September 23 announced its intent to reimburse state and local Iowa governments and agencies and eligible non-profit organizations for costs incurred to repair and replace facilities damaged by the severe storms. Twenty-three counties are eligible for Public Assistance, 11 counties are eligible for Individual Assistance, and all counties are eligible for Hazard Mitigation Grant programs.
Under a major disaster declaration (DR-4561-IA) for Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (Meskwaki Nation), FEMA announced its intent to reimburse tribal government and eligible non-profit organizations for Public Assistance.
PBS Newshour reports that weeks after the Iowa derecho, residents displaced by the devastating windstorm are still in need of temporary housing. More than five weeks after the derecho, 27 counties are still under a state disaster declaration, but residents have received only $7 million from FEMA.
According to a KCRG investigation, Linn County Emergency Management Coordinator Steve O’Konek rejected relief assistance from other county management agencies, organizations, and corporations.
A staff columnist article in the Gazette discusses how the Iowa derecho and pandemic are compounded by inept leadership. The author highlights how federal, state, and local government leaders failed to act while hundreds of Iowans were, and continue to be, in desperate need of assistance.
General Resources & Events
On the third anniversary of Hurricane Maria, NBC News reports that Puerto Rico has experienced additional pain and little recovery progress three years after the devastating hurricane. “As a community social worker, I can tell you that Puerto Rico’s recovery, if it can be called that, didn’t come thanks to the government,” says Angel Perez.
An op-ed in Street Roots discusses how the climate crisis exacerbates poverty and homelessness, noting that in the United States, over 600,000 people have become homeless due to 853 natural disasters since 1980.