Congressional and National Updates
Representative Dina Titus, the Ranking Member of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, reintroduced the “Disaster Survivors Fairness Act of 2023” in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 27. The bill would create a uniform application system for federal disaster recovery assistance across multiple federal agencies, change standards regulating FEMA assistance to permit funds to be used for household mitigation measures, and expand when FEMA can offer repair assistance to homeowners. The bill would also create a dashboard outlining important information about FEMA’s assistance, including the number of renters or homeowners receiving assistance and their incomes.
In a Gallup poll released at the beginning of April, one-third of respondents said that they had personally experienced an extreme weather event in the past two years. Nearly half of all respondents from the South said that they had experienced such an event.
CNN reported that racial disparities are stalling disaster recovery efforts for people of color and that climate change could make matters worse.
Axios reported on how climate-displaced Americans are facing discrimination. Households with fewer funds are less likely to return to their pre-disaster homes and less likely to make quick progress in the rebuilding process.
Recent tornados across the Southeast have been estimated to have caused $83 billion in damage.
Agency Updates
FEMA is hoping to significantly increase the number of emergency response personnel the agency employs through a 20% hiring surge. Last year, Congress passed the “Civilian Reservist Emergency Workforce Act,” which protects the jobs of FEMA reservists when they deploy to disaster areas.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on disaster contracting by federal agencies in advance of this year’s fire season. The report found that the U.S. Forest Service had not yet developed mechanisms to archive and track the implementation of best practices regarding disaster contracting and highlighted the need for policy updates at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of the Interior.
The Small Business Administration issued revisions to its disaster loan program allowing the agency to deploy the program in certain areas without a direct disaster declaration by FEMA. These changes make it easier for SBA to approve the program in rural areas that may not have seen enough property damage to garner a disaster declaration but that nevertheless were struck by a disaster.
State and Local Updates
Arkansas
FEMA assistance is beginning to be received by victims of the recent tornado outbreak in Arkansas.
Residents of Little Rock are receiving hotel stay vouchers from area volunteer and nonprofit organizations. Many recipients had been paying for these rooms with their own funds.
Officials in Wynne, which was heavily impacted by a tornado, are wondering what the town’s future looks like. The town is still working to remove debris and find ways to ensure that residents can return.
Colorado
Nearly 122 homes remain uninhabitable following the Marshall Fire in Colorado. Homes that were not completely destroyed still pose severe challenges for owners, who have the arduous task of rehabbing them after large-scale smoke and infrastructure damage.
Florida
A report released in early April found that Hurricane Ian caused $112.9 billion in damage and led to at least 156 deaths across the U.S. Sixty-six deaths occurred in Florida, along with $109.5 billion of the total costs of damage, making the storm the costliest in Florida history and the third-costliest hurricane on record in the U.S. after Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Harvey (2017).
The State of Florida published a new version of “Hurricane Matthew Subrecipient Policies and Procedures” on April 17, updating the state’s policies for monitoring compliance and information with regard to HUD-funded programs working to address the impacts of the storm.
Indiana
Federal assistance is now available in Indiana following the approval of a disaster declaration for the state in response to a tornado outbreak and severe storms on March 31. The tornados damaged more than 1,000 structures while injuring 34 people and killing five.
Kentucky
The USDA has announced that it will make grants available to help repair homes damaged during the East Kentucky Floods of 2022. The funding, offered by USDA Rural Development, is being made available through FEMA’s Interagency Recovery Coordination (IRC) mission and will offer as much as $40,675 to low-income households.
Louisiana
Hurricane survivors in Louisiana have been left wondering whether they will ever recover after the slow rollout of HUD-funded disaster recovery funds in the state.
Mississippi
In Monroe County, supervisors are hoping that FEMA approves the county’s application to construct tornado safe rooms and rebuild government facilities in the aftermath of the recent tornado outbreak.
Montana
The Montana legislature is debating legislation that would create a specific task force to provide aerial fire suppression support to state firefighters. Lawmakers cited the growth of housing in areas vulnerable to wildfire as a reason to proactively increase the number of tools available to the state to deal with the issue.
New Mexico
The New Mexico legislature passed legislation earlier this year approving the creation of a bridge loan program for governments in communities impacted by wildfires in northern New Mexico. According to the state law, however, only communities that have been approved for FEMA’s Public Assistance program can access the funding, creating an additional logjam as the agency works through requests from towns in northern New Mexico.
North Carolina
Those in the western part of North Carolina who are recovering from flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Fred recently received a boost in funds from the federal government. County governments are now requesting public input concerning how the funds should be used.
Puerto Rico
Several advocacy organizations are suing FEMA over the use of agency funds to rebuild Puerto Rico’s fragile power system. The lawsuit alleges that efforts to reconstruct the outdated grid according to its pre-disaster form are irresponsible and are being undertaken without properly assessing environmental impacts or the potential for damage from future storms.