The NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition convenes and supports 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.
FEMA
FEMA announced on June 10 it will include additional assistance for mitigation in Home Repair Assistance awards for disaster declared on or after May 26, 2021. Homeowners who are eligible for Individuals and Households Program (IHP) assistance may receive additional funds from FEMA for specific mitigation measures. This assistance will allow eligible homeowners impacted by Presidential Disaster Declarations to repair or rebuild stronger, more durable homes.
Flooding
More than five years after catastrophic flooding struck Columbia, South Carolina, residents are still waiting for public funding to help them repair and rebuild. While 454 Columbia homeowners applied for assistance through the state’s recovery program (financed with HUD CDBG-DR funds), only 50 were approved. Many applicants have had no choice but to remain in their flood-damaged homes.
A long-term recovery group in Midland County, Michigan continues to work on rehousing and finding temporary shelter for flooding victims in the area after a dam failure in 2020. The group coordinates housing and case management work with volunteers and FEMA funding.
The Acadiana Advocate reports that in flood-prone Lake Charles, some residents are considering whether to accept a voluntary buyout of their homes if they are deemed eligible. A common sentiment runs through the predominantly Black neighborhood: the situation should never have come to this, and the drainage would have improved sooner in a wealthier part of town. The buyout program is part of the Louisiana Watershed Initiative, which uses federal grant dollars to take homes that flood repeatedly out of circulation among a wide range of other projects. The program has set aside $30 million for Lake Charles.
Hurricanes
New research from the Caribbean addresses disaster recovery through the lens of gender and equality. The study, conducted by the Canada-Caribbean Resilience Facility looks at how women were uniquely affected by disasters in nine countries. The study found that while women and youth are active in disaster response and recovery, they are very rarely consulted, nor are their experiences integrated into disaster policy. It also found a direct rise in gender-based violence in the aftermath of disasters.
A new 80-unit senior apartment community opened in Port Arthur, TX. The apartments were paid for with HUD Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) awarded by the Texas Government Land Office (GLO). Half of the units in the development have been set aside for low-to-moderate-income families. Port Arthur, a largely non-white community, was strongly impacted by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and has struggled to recover in the aftermath of the storm.
Residents recovering from Hurricane Michael have until June 16 to begin the application for state and federal housing assistance through the Rebuild Florida Housing Repair and Replacement Program. After residents begin an application, they have until June 30 to submit it.
Wildfires
The New Yorker covers the massive threat wildfires pose to the American West this year, examining the preliminary conversations taking place in communities across the region about response, relocation, and mitigation.
A report from UC Berkeley finds that urban sprawl leads to more devastating wildfires. The new research challenges Californians to think more carefully about the impact of wildfires on new homes as the state works to address its significant housing shortage.
Work has begun on two community resilience centers in Tuolumne County, California. The sites will serve as centers for responses to disasters, including sheltering, response, and mitigation, as well as serve as a more traditional community center. The county was heavily impacted by the 2013 Rim Fire, which burnt nearly 400 square miles of the area – the third-largest fire in state history at the time.
Oregon Public Broadcast reports that wildfire survivors are bracing for the fire season, while still trying to recover from last year’s devastating season. In the Rogue Valley, hundreds of people lost their homes and are still unable to find housing in the towns from which they were displaced.
Jefferson Public Radio reports that a mobile home park in Talent destroyed by last September’s Almeda Fire now hosts 27 FEMA one-to-three-bedroom trailers for wildfire survivors. The Almeda Fire burned hundreds of homes, many of them low-income housing units, in southern Oregon. The trailers are designed to be temporary housing, but city officials are looking into using the site for permanent housing.
An organization in Clackamas County, Oregon is looking forward to helping wildfire survivors with its first large donation. The Clackamas County Long-Term Recovery Group is trying to assist the owners of 72 properties in the county that were damaged by the fire. The long-term recovery group assists residents with FEMA applications and insurance claims, finding local resources, rebuilding efforts, and connecting people with spiritual and emotional support. The group is seeking additional ways to receive state aid or FEMA assistance.