The NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition convenes and supports 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. Learn more about the DHRC’s policy recommendations here.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
HUD published a Federal Register notice on June 21 governing the use of $2 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for electric power system enhancements and improvements for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Read HUD’s press release on the notice. The funds provide an opportunity for Puerto Rico and the USVI to mitigate disaster risks to their electrical power systems; improve system reliability, resiliency, efficiency, and sustainability; and address each system’s long-term financial viability.
FEMA
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development held a June 23 hearing on “FEMA’s Priorities for FY22 and Beyond: Coordinating Mission, Vision, and Budget.”
FEMA extended the comment period for its Request for Information on the extent to which agency programs, regulations, and policies 1) perpetuate systemic barriers to opportunities and benefits for people of color and other underserved groups; 2) bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change; and 3) address the disproportionately high and adverse climate-related impacts on disadvantaged communities. FEMA has also requested concrete information about unnecessary or unjustified administrative burdens that may create systemic barriers. The deadline is now July 21, 2021.
Disaster survivors can receive one-on-one, in-person help appealing FEMA application decisions at a Recovery Service Center in Lake Charles.
Research and Resources
The Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN) of the National Academies released new guidance, “Addressing Disaster Vulnerability Among Homeless Populations During COVID-19.” The guidance helps decision makers and communities support people experiencing homelessness before, during, and after a disaster in the context of COVID-19. Nnenia Campbell, deputy director of the William Averette Anderson Fund for Hazard and Disaster Mitigation Education and Research, joined yesterday’s (6/22) DHRC Disaster Recovery Working Group to discuss the new publication.
Bursting water pipes after Winter Storm Uri have produced serious mold problems in many rental properties in Austin, and the city has no standards or regulations directly targeting mold. The Austin Tenants Council, with Austin Women in Housing, is gathering information on best practices for identifying, remediating, and preventing mold in rental properties. They are seeking this information as part of their effort to persuade the City of Austin to provide mold inspections for renters. Examples of models working in other jurisdictions will help them develop and support their proposal. Access the survey here. The deadline to respond is July 1, 2021.
Reporting
Buzzfeed News examines how Lake Charles, Louisiana exposes a rarely discussed reality of climate change: overlapping disasters are becoming more frequent. Compounding disasters, like the ones Lake Charles experienced over the past year, demonstrate how climate change disproportionately impacts low-income families and communities of color. Most of the more than 56,000 homes across Louisiana damaged by Hurricane Laura were in Calcasieu Parish, home to Lake Charles – one of the most segregated residential communities in the U.S. – whose Black residents have among the highest rates of poverty and unemployment in the country. The article highlights how the federal government’s largely hands-off approach to disaster recovery fails to address the needs of low-income people and communities of color, who receive the least amount of federal disaster aid to recover.
The New York Times examines racial disparities in federal disaster aid. A growing body of research shows that FEMA often helps white disaster survivors more than people of color, even when the amount of damage is the same. This is true not only for individual survivors but also for the communities in which they live.
The Advocate reports local officials in southwest Louisiana continue to plead for supplemental federal disaster aid to address urgent housing needs and rebuild the economy. Lake Charles officials estimate between 3,000 and 5,000 residents (out of a population of roughly 78,000) are still displaced following the four natural disasters that devastated the region, a number that increased following the May flood. FEMA has assisted with temporary housing and other programs, but local officials say a full recovery will not be possible without supplemental disaster relief.
Severe Storms and Flooding
With the hurricane season underway and amid ongoing efforts to recover from last year’s disasters, operations are ramping up in Lake Charles to address the immediate concern of flooding. Following the severe flooding last month, the Lake Charles City Council approved an additional $3 million for drainage expenses and an additional $20 million to address drainage issues throughout the city. Lake Charles residents fear that without additional aid, more residents will be forced to leave.
At the request of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, FEMA has extended the deadline for severe-storm survivors in the 31 designated counties to apply for Individual Assistance. The deadline to apply is now July 8.
Wildfires
A series of wildfires has broken out unseasonably early, sparking fears that this will be one of the worst wildfire seasons yet. Large wildfires are burning in every Western state except Washington. At least 45 fires that are burning now have consumed more than 820 square miles – an area larger than the cities of New York and Los Angeles combined.
FEMA opened a new direct housing program site with 27 trailers in Talent, Oregon at the former Totem Pole Trailer Park. The families residing at the site are former residents of the trailer park that was destroyed by the Almeda Fire.