The following is a review of additional disaster housing recovery developments since the last edition of Memo to Members and Partners (for the article in the previous Memo, see 5/28).
While hurricane season begins this week, thousands of people across the country still have not recovered from the record-breaking storms of the past two years, according to a story in Think Progress. “Those impacted are those least able to recover,” particularly communities of color.
Midwest Flooding
Kansas
President Trump signed an emergency declaration for the State of Kansas on May 28. Along with other midwestern states, Kansas has been experiencing severe flooding since the end of April. FEMA’s assistance will initially be limited to direct disaster emergency assistance and assistance through the Public Assistance Program for 18 counties. FEMA notices and updates will appear on its Kansas Flooding incident page.
2018 California Wildfires
California utility PG&E won approval from a federal bankruptcy judge to create a $105 million housing assistance fund for 2017 and 2018 California wildfire victims. The move comes after state investigators found that PG&E infrastructure issues were the cause of the deadly Camp Fire in late 2018. The ruling disappointed attorneys for wildfire victims that had requested more than double that amount.
Hurricane Michael
Florida
Nearly 8 months after Hurricane Michael, thousands of survivors are still struggling without the safe, accessible, and affordable housing they need to get back on their feet, according to a story by NPR. Many families have been denied FEMA assistance and are now sleeping in cars. Others have had no choice but to pay much more of their income on housing after local rents skyrocketed. Rebuilding has been so slow that in many ways, the community looks like the Hurricane just passed through last week.
FEMA announced it would be awarding $1.2 million in Public Assistance funding to local municipalities, churches and local government agencies for assistance in debris-removal, emergency protective measures and management costs.
Hurricane Florence
North Carolina
administrative missteps and a lack of expertise led to delays in the release of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grants as well as the expenditure of $3.7 million in unnecessary state funding.
2017 Disasters
Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan will announce a program to pay landlords up to $50,000 to repair their damaged apartment units to increase the local rental stock. The new program will be paid through a FEMA Public Assistance grant.
Earlier in May, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Roselló estimated there were about 30,000 homes with blue tarp roofs on the island 20 months after Hurricane Maria struck. The residents of these homes are increasingly unsure about where to turn for assistance.