Congressional Action
Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) sent a letter to appropriators in the U.S House of Representatives asking for additional funding for investments in climate preparedness and mitigation, including investments in FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to support resilience grants.
FEMA
FEMA’s Public Assistance program is seeking public feedback on a draft policy establishing program deadlines across all COVID-19 emergency and disaster declarations. Funds were used sporadically during the initial stages of the pandemic to house individuals experiencing homelessness in hotel rooms away from crowded shelters. Written comments can be provided by submitting a comment matrix to [email protected]
FEMA’s Funeral Assistance program has come under fire from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) as well as the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The OIG chastised FEMA for paying for items such as flowers at the funerals of COVID-19 victims. FEMA pushed back against these accusations in a response to the report. Meanwhile, the GAO found multiple oversight problems that could have led to duplicate payments being made to some individuals.
HUD
HUD is holding a webinar on May 5 at 2:00 pm ET on relocation and displacement requirements for activities funded via the February 2022 allocation of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds. The webinar is intended to inform stakeholders working with CDBG-DR funds of recent changes. Join the webinar here.
State and Local
Kentucky
Nonprofits and community members are continuing to assist the victims of tornados that struck western Kentucky in December. FEMA has approved $64 million in federal assistance for the area in response to the storms.
Michigan
Last summer, Detroit experienced catastrophic flooding, but more than 8,200 families are still waiting on decisions from FEMA about whether they will receive assistance. Meanwhile, the agency has denied assistance for more than 14,000 claims. The agency stated that it had approved 39,000 households for at least some funds – a denial rate of around 30%.
Texas
Post-Harvey mitigation funds from HUD were diverted by the Texas state government into a competition stacked against areas with larger non-white populations. As a result, families continue to be at risk of flooding. The same communities continue to wait for delayed federal long-term recovery funds, even after being denied assistance by FEMA due to strict paperwork requirements.
Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner announced that the city will create approximately 240 homes in Willowbend and Sunnyside and make them available to families earning 80% of area median income in an expansion of a post-Harvey housing program funded through HUD’s CDBG-DR program.
Virginia
Advocates are questioning whether Virginia has the political will to address the risk of flooding in the state, which is forecast to experience more floods as climate change continues. Grassroots groups around the state are pushing local governments to act: a 2021 referendum passed in Virginia Beach, for example, allows the city to issue up to $567 million in bonds to cover the cost of a flood protection program.
Louisiana
Lake Charles officials announced the creation of a 130-unit mixed income housing development in the city’s downtown. The building is being developed with tax credits and assistance distributed by the Louisiana Housing Corporation. Construction should take 14 months.
HUD, the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, and the Louisiana Housing Corporation announced the creation of a rehousing campaign in an attempt to permanently house more than 350 individuals seeking homes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 hurricane season.