Congressional leaders are continuing negotiations this week over what to include in a final omnibus fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget bill. Depending on the results of these negotiations, the budget bill could include a pivotal piece of bipartisan disaster recovery reform legislation: the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act” (RDRA) (S.2471/H.R. 4707).
Passing the bipartisan RDRA is a top priority for NLIHC and the Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC). The bipartisan bill – introduced by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Todd Young (R-IN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), as well as Representative Al Green (D-TX) – would formally authorize the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program to ensure these critical resources reach survivors and their communities more quickly after a disaster and are better targeted to those with the greatest needs. CDBG-DR is a vital tool that provides flexible, long-term resources needed by communities to rebuild after a disaster and to prepare for future harm. The lack of formal authorization and congressional inaction, however, has led to unnecessary delays that harm survivors and communities. Without the additional safeguards and transparency provisions included in the RDRA, recovery and mitigation efforts can be inconsistent and steer funding away from those most in need.
The bill also includes important safeguards and tools to help ensure that federal disaster recovery efforts reach the lowest-income and most marginalized survivors, who are often hardest hit by disasters and face the longest, steepest paths to recovery. Your members of Congress need to hear from you! If you have a Republican senator, please contact them today and urge them to ask Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to include the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act in the final FY2023 budget omnibus package.
Hurricane Ian Updates
As of the first week of December 2022, more than 3,000 Floridians remain in temporary housing.
The State of Florida has created an assistance portal to enable those affected by Hurricane Ian to apply for assistance or report unmet needs, such as those involving transportation or food.
Lee County, Florida, has launched a housing website to better connect impacted households with resources.
Renters displaced by Hurricane Ian have been left with nowhere to go amid a worsening affordable housing crisis in Southwest Florida.
Pawleys Island, South Carolina, is still working to repair damage two months after Hurricane Ian impacted the area.
Homeowners are facing long waits for repairs to their homes as construction companies in Southwest Florida have been overwhelmed with requests for service.
Florida’s legislature passed a sweeping property insurance overhaul meant to stabilize the state’s imploding insurance market. The bill creates a $1 billion aid program for struggling insurance companies and sharply limits the incentives to sue those companies. The bill is not expected to lower insurance premiums paid by homeowners. Indeed, individuals who have state-backed insurance policies will likely end up paying more.
Congressional and National Updates
A new report exploring disaster resilience legislation during the 2021-2022 state legislative sessions found that disaster seasons during the last few years have broken records and cost governments billions in response and recovery costs. The U.S. has experienced 14 “billion-dollar disasters” over the past decade, with disasters occurring over the last five years amounting to $788 billion in costs.
Florida’s Senate delegation is continuing its calls for additional recovery assistance.
Jared Muskowitz (D-FL), the ex-head of Florida’s Emergency Management Agency, will be sworn-in as a Representative next month. At top of his list of goals is that of establishing FEMA as an independent agency separate from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released its final report on December 12. The report outlines recommendations by the committee about ways to confront climate change and improve the country’s response to disasters. Included are recommendations supported by NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC), including the permanent authorization of HUD’s long-term recovery program and a guarantee that assistance is provided to individuals most impacted by disasters.
An investigatory report has found that Road Home, the program created to assist homeowners impacted by Hurricane Katrina, was purposefully limited by its designers – including congressional offices – to provide fewer funds to individuals with lower incomes, regardless of how much damage occurred to their homes.
State and Local Updates
California
The Santa Rosa Board of Supervisors approved a comprehensive earthquake response plan, establishing guidelines for immediate response and early recovery from a major seismic event.
Colorado
Disaster-impacted households can apply for grants or loans through a new program called the State of Colorado Housing Recovery Program. The program is meant to help families rebuild after losing their homes to wildfires.
Kentucky
After deadly tornadoes swept through western Kentucky in December, an estimated $50 to $100 million in insurance payments have flowed into communities in the area, helping homeowners and businesses rebuild.
Louisiana
On December 14, a tornado impacted several neighborhoods in the New Orleans area, including the neighborhoods of Algiers and the Lower 9th Ward. Tornados had already impacted other areas of the state earlier in the week, killing a mother and her young son in Keithville.
Some applicants are still waiting to receive recovery money after applying for available funding from the Restore Louisiana program to help get their lives back on track after hurricanes struck in 2020 and flooding impacted the state in May 2021.
Mississippi
Tornados impacted Mississippi for the second time in little more than two weeks, causing damage and injuries in Rankin and Sharkey counties.
Missouri
After a fire ravaged roughly half of Wooldridge in late October, disaster survivors have struggled to rebuild their homes without government assistance. The damage caused by the fire and the fire itself did not meet the threshold for federal designation, leaving those affected to rely on community support.
Montana
The Red Lodge Area Community Foundation is accepting grant applications for the Carbon County Disaster Relief Fund to address crucial flood-impacted housing needs, in response to heavy flooding in June.
New Mexico
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas sent a letter to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security requesting assistance for New Mexico families struggling to access disaster relief funding in their efforts to recover from the Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak wildfire disaster.
North Carolina
The N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to three action plans for the use of HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and Community Development Block Grant-Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funds in areas of the state impacted by hurricanes Matthew and Florence.
Oklahoma
A tornado touched down near Wayne, Oklahoma, on December 13, damaging homes and knocking out power. The tornado was part of an intense storm system that affected the northern Plains region.
Texas
On December 13, between nine and 12 tornadoes touched down across North Texas, as a powerful December storm swept through the area. Damage assessments are still ongoing. Four of the tornados occurred in Tarrant County, where a Naval Air Station suffered structural damage.