With the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season coming to a close on November 30, the NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) hosted a final national disaster webinar on November 29 to provide updates on national, state, and local disaster recovery efforts following Hurricane Ian, Hurricane Fiona, and the Kentucky floods.
Sarah Molinari of Florida International University discussed her recently published article about the impact of ownership verification requirements on FEMA assistance in Puerto Rico. Dr. Molinari’s article outlines the experiences of several families who were refused assistance following Hurricane Maria due to their lack of clear property titles for their homes. Aside from discussing her paper, Dr. Molinari also compared the responses to Hurricane Maria with those that followed Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
Next, Maritere Padilla Rodriguez of the Hispanic Federation discussed FEMA’s refusal to extend the deadline for assistance applications despite the existence of substantial barriers to registration. Adrienne Bush of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky spoke about her organization’s efforts to improve long-term recovery programs proposed by the state for areas impacted by flooding and tornados in 2021 and flash flooding in 2022. Finally, Dayna Lazarus of the Florida Housing Coalition reviewed the ongoing efforts to recover from Hurricane Ian, providing information about how many survivors are currently accessing programs and how many have been left behind.
NLIHC wishes to thank all who participated in panels, asked questions, left comments, or attended webinars in the series. While the November 29 webinar was the final national webinar, the DHRC will continue its efforts to ensure that all disaster survivors receive the assistance they need to fully recover. Webinar attendees are encouraged to participate in the DHRC’s Disaster Recovery Working Group, which meets every Wednesday at 2 pm ET. The Working Group takes the form of a participatory conversation about ongoing efforts to reform the country’s disaster recovery system and provides a venue to share best practices, advocacy information, and questions.
Register for the DHRC-led Disaster Recovery Working Group at: https://bit.ly/3Rm08rb
Find the recording of the November 29 webinar at: https://tinyurl.com/2p8fsjed
Find slides from the November 29 webinar at: https://tinyurl.com/yuwn8a7j