The NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition is convening and supporting 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.
Reporting
An op-ed in the Quad-City Times urges federal and state investments in climate solutions to include funding for placement services that protect and house those in need – especially unsheltered individuals. As natural disasters increase in frequency and intensity, more residents throughout the south are becoming displaced.
Winter Storms
FEMA Resource: Navigating Recovery for Texans After Severe Winter Storms
President Biden on March 9 approved a Major Disaster Declaration for Louisiana to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by the severe winter storms. The declaration makes FEMA Individual Assistance (IA) available to 23 parishes.
Louisiana residents who have received disaster assistance after they suffered hurricane damage must re-register for assistance if they incurred damage from February’s winter storms.
Renters in the 16 counties designated for FEMA individual assistance who sustained damage or losses from the Oklahoma severe winter storms may be eligible for federal disaster assistance. Renters who face eviction or have been evicted from their storm-damaged apartment complex – whether their unit had damage or not – may be eligible for disaster assistance.
The Austin American-Statesman reports Austin Mutual Aid sheltered nearly 500 people in hotels during the severe winter storms. The last people moved out of those hotel rooms on March 8, having stayed for several weeks while the group worked to see them off into more permanent housing or back onto the streets. The founder of Austin Mutual Aid said groups like his had to step up after the city failed to adequately help its estimated 2,500 unsheltered residents.
Wildfires in the West
Lane County Human Services of Eugene received $5.6 million in Project Turnkey funds for a 50-room hotel and Northwest Coastal Housing of Lincoln City is receiving $3.3 million for a 42-room hotel. Priority for the Eugene and Lincoln City project will be given to those displaced by the wildfires. A Douglas County agency could be receiving millions of dollars to buy a hotel that could be used to shelter displaced wildfire survivors or people experiencing homelessness.
Hundreds of Oregon families are still waiting for public assistance after losing homes and possessions to last year’s devastating wildfires. The FEMA application process and onerous documentation requirements are a significant barrier for families in need, particularly since many households lost the required documents in the fires.