Disaster Housing Recovery Updates – March 21, 2022

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

HUD’s Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting (DRGR) System pages have been updated to include several new DRGR Public Action Plan resources for grantees, including a new fact sheet on DRGR for CDBG-DR Grantees under Public Law 117-43.

Flooding

The Advocate reports that Louisiana homeowners who have flood insurance will soon see the impact of an overhaul of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), but there are concerns that few will understand the policy changes or their implications. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the “Flood Insurance Pricing Transparency Act” on March 14. The bill would require FEMA to provide tools to help policyholders understand what their new insurance rates might be. The impacts of changes to the NFIP are significant for Louisiana, which has the nation’s highest rate of participation in the program.

Tornadoes

More than $2 million in housing assistance will be available for Southwest Florida residents impacted by the January 2022 tornado. The funding will be available through the State Housing Initiative Program and is intended to help residents whose mobile homes were destroyed by the tornado.

More than three months after historic December 2021 storms and tornadoes devastated Kentucky, FEMA has approved $10.4 million in housing assistance, including $2.1 million in rental assistance.

Wildfires

Survivors of the 2020 wildfires in Oregon will be allowed to remain in temporary housing provided by FEMA, but starting in April, residents will be required to pay fair market rents. The housing support was set to expire in mid-March, but FEMA extended the program to September 15. While the rental period begins on April 1, residents will not be expected to pay rent until May 1. The Oregon Office of Emergency Management recommends that any residents who cannot afford to pay their rents should work with their disaster case managers to submit appeals to FEMA. Currently, 178 FEMA temporary housing units are occupied in Oregon.