FEMA and HUD published a Pre-Disaster Housing Planning Initiative Report on July 9, marking a first-of-its-kind partnership between the two agencies. The report details findings on how to create and enhance collaboration between FEMA and HUD regarding disaster housing recovery before, during, and after disasters. Additionally, the report outlines lessons learned from the Pre-Disaster Housing Planning Initiative (PDHI) that was piloted in Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, and Washington in 2023.
The report advances three major recommendations. First, the report contends that existing housing issues must be identified and addressed before a disaster occurs. As FEMA explaines in a press release on the report, “planning around existing housing shortfalls before disasters can help communities recover more quickly during emergencies and ensure more resilient outcomes.” Second, the report argues that states must have the ability to share information with one another. Finally, the report draws attention to the fact that every community impacted by a disaster has different needs and suggests that, as a result, federal resources must be flexible enough to address these different needs.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and Acting Secretary of HUD Adrianne Todman celebrated the collaboration between their agencies in a joint letter included in the report, observing that “FEMA and HUD’s joint priority is to provide resilient, affordable, and safe housing for disaster survivors.”
NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) is very encouraged by this collaboration, as the Coalition has long called for better partnerships between FEMA and HUD to ensure a smoother recovery process, especially for those with the lowest incomes and from the most marginalized groups. The DHRC commends FEMA and HUD for their partnership and encourages the agencies to continue to make collaboration a priority in recovery efforts.
In addition to the report, FEMA and HUD also created a Pre-Disaster Housing Planning Checklist and Guide and Federal Housing and Sheltering Resource Timeline and Compendium. These tools can be utilized by Tribal nations, territories, and states to develop and enhance their housing strategies pre-disaster.
Due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback and encouragement received by FEMA and HUD regarding the initiative, the agencies are planning a second phase of their partnership. In particular, they hope to partner with a new set of states to develop a disaster housing recovery system that works more effectively in support of communities and not against them.
Read the full Pre-Disaster Housing Planning Initiative Report here.
Read the Pre-Disaster Housing Planning Checklist and Guide here.
Read the Federal Housing and Sheltering Resource Timeline and Compendium here.