Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
The National Advisory Council’s December 2021 “Report to the FEMA Administrator” offers recommendations to support FEMA’s efforts to enhance and strengthen the agency’s capacity to help states, territories, tribes, and local governments respond to and recover from disasters. The report commends FEMA on recent reforms to its Individual Assistance (IA) program, including its decision to expand the documentation requirements for home occupancy and ownership. The report also highlights the need to cement these reforms in statute since the changes are administrative and can be rolled back easily.
The “Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act” – supported by NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) – addresses significant title-documentation challenges that have resulted in thousands of eligible disaster survivors being wrongfully denied FEMA assistance. The bill would build on FEMA’s recent reforms and make them permanent and retroactive. Read NLIHC’s fact sheet to learn more about the bill.
FEMA canceled the repayment of over $870 million in outstanding community disaster loan balances. The Community Disaster Loan Program is available to local governments that have been adversely affected by major disasters. The cancellation is a result of congressional legislation included in the continuing budget resolution that began on October 1, 2021. The legislation canceled outstanding loan balances and will provide significant flexibilities to communities recovering from disasters, as they can use the funds to cover expenses. FEMA recently sent notifications to the 158 loan holders notifying them of the cancellations.
Approximately 275 public housing complexes representing over 4,600 facilities and structures that suffered damage as a result of Hurricane Maria will be rebuilt with an obligation approved by FEMA on January 24. The more than $554 million in federal funding allocated to the Puerto Rico Public Housing Administration (PRPHA) is in addition to another $109 million in disaster funding for the PRPHA. The funding obligation will provide the PRPHA with a recovery budget for planning long-term recovery efforts in Puerto Rico.
Reporting
Grist highlights a new report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies finding that renters face the greatest risks from climate-related disasters. Rental units are more at risk of being destroyed or severely damaged by climate disasters. Further, renters are less likely to be included in efforts to protect existing housing from the next major disasters. The report calls for a permanent, fully funded housing safety net that can ensure the lowest-income and most marginalized people remain housed following severe climate disasters.
Hurricanes
At the request of Louisiana officials, FEMA is extending the temporary housing program for survivors of Hurricanes Laura and Delta to October 31, 2022. The program was initially set to end on February 28. As part of the extension, occupants will be charged an income-related monthly rent beginning on March 1. FEMA officials urge occupants to complete or follow through on any requests for rent reduction by February 28, the deadline for ensuring the reduction of fair market rent estimates for housing units. At the peak of the program, 2,400 eligible households were licensed for FEMA-provided mobile homes, placed across 12 parishes. Approximately 75% of households remain in their FEMA housing units.
A family of nine whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Ida is facing homelessness after FEMA announced it will no longer pay for the rooms in the FEMA-approved hotel in Spanish Fort, Alabama, where the family has been staying. The family applied for FEMA rental assistance but was denied aid until it can obtain a rental lease.
A FEMA Disaster Recovery Center is now open in Houma, Louisiana, to help survivors affected by Hurricane Ida. Learn more here. To locate a center, check the FEMA app, visit www.FEMA.gov/DRC, or call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362.
The Acadiana Advocate reports that more than one out of every five homes in Louisiana’s Calcasieu Parish is classified as being underwater. A report released by a real estate research firm found that 5,201 of the nearly 23,000 properties with loans in the parish were classified as underwater.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) spoke on January 22 about the need to restore the homes of seniors and people with disabilities who lost their homes when Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area in 2017.
Tornadoes
Tornado survivors in several Tennessee counties are eligible to apply for FEMA assistance. Renters in Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Gibson, Henderson, Henry, Lake, Obion, Stewart, Sumner, Weakley, and Wilson counties are now eligible to apply for support through FEMA’s Individual Assistance program. Services include crisis counseling, disaster unemployment assistance, disaster legal services, and access to FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program. The deadline to apply is March 15, 2022.
The two tornadoes that struck southwest Florida on January 16 destroyed at least 28 homes and damaged others in Lee County. At least 62 homes were deemed “unlivable.” A tornado touched down in Charlotte County’s Gasparilla Mobile Estates, leaving 21 homes uninhabitable and damaging another 18 homes. Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency for Charlotte and Lee counties but did not request a major disaster declaration. The executive order will allow those impacted by the storms to receive limited assistance to repair their homes.
Wildfires
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on January 20 that low-income Colorado residents in Boulder County affected by wildfires could be eligible for USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP). Learn more here.
The Natural Hazards Center and the CONVERGE Initiative at the University of Colorado Boulder created a collaborative research spreadsheet to communicate information regarding studies that have already been launched or are planned in response to the 2021 Boulder County Fires, including the Marshall Fire and Middle Fork Fire. The document offers researchers and partners a space to share ideas regarding research that is needed as well as information about available data, equipment, resources, and funding opportunities. Additionally, the University of Colorado Boulder Natural Hazards Center held a CONVERGE Virtual Forum focused on the research needs of the community and proposed research in response to the Boulder County Fires.
Advocacy
The Natural Resources Defense Council is organizing a sign-on letter in response to FEMA’s Request for Information on the agency’s proposed changes to the National Flood Insurance Program. Read the full text of the letter and sign your organization on to the letter here.