Donovan announces $3.7 billion in disaster assistance to 11 states impacted by 2008 natural disasters

June 11, 2009 |

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD is allocating $3.7 billion in disaster aid to 11 States to help them recover from dozens of natural disasters last year. The emergency funding will support the States’ long-term disaster recovery and is in addition to $2.4 billion HUD already allocated through its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. Donovan announced the additional funding following a tour of flood-damaged areas of Cedar Rapids, Iowa with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Governor Chet Culver and Congressman David Loebsack.

Donovan also announced that nearly $312 million is available to States that spend their existing funding on programs that reduce potential damages from future disasters. This Disaster Recovery Enhancement Fund is designed to encourage States to design forward-thinking recovery plans that will reduce the risks of loss of life and the extent of future damage.

The following states are receiving additional disaster recovery funds from HUD:

State		Today’s Allocation	Prior 2008 Allocations	Total
Texas		$1,743,001,247	$1,314,990,193	$3,057,991,440
Louisiana		$620,467,205	$438,223,344	$1,058,690,549
Iowa		$516,713,868	$281,987,957	$798,701,825
Indiana		$253,340,079	$162,055,588	$415,395,667
Illinois		$127,207,128	$59,325,555	$186,532,683
Missouri		$78,625,549	$25,012,379	$103,637,928
Wisconsin		$75,200,572	$49,097,341	$124,297,913
Tennessee		$71,881,834	$20,636,056	$92,517,890
Arkansas		$70,181,041	$25,042,358	$95,223,399
Florida		$63,606,850	$17,457,005	$81,063,855
California		$39,531,784	n/a	$39,531,784
TOTAL		$3,659,757,157	$2,393,827,776	$6,053,584,933

“These States are enduring tremendous hardships as they try to piece together their local communities following last year’s natural disasters,” said Donovan. “Our job is to support them in any way possible and to encourage them to take positive steps toward reducing the risk of catastrophe in the future.”

Last September, Congress appropriated more than $6 billion in supplemental funding for “necessary expenses related to disaster relief, long-term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure, housing and economic revitalization in areas affected by hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters occurring during 2008.” There were 76 major disasters that occurred in 2008 in 35 States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These disasters included the Midwest floods, Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, and the California wildfires. HUD quickly allocated a third of this funding and today the Department is announcing the balance of this disaster recovery funding.

In determining the allocations announced today, HUD focused on two factors:

Combined unmet housing, infrastructure and business needs

This is each State’s relative share of these estimated unmet needs based on available data provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA); and,

Recovery Challenge Risk Level

HUD has estimated the relative level of recovery challenges confronting these States. To do this, HUD used information from the 2005 Hurricanes to estimate what factors predicted if a household would be displaced for an extended period of time and how long it takes for a neighborhood to recover. That analysis found that the extent of concentrated neighborhood damage and the severity of damage to particular properties are very good predictors for long-term vacancy.

Disaster Recovery Enhancement Fund

HUD is creating a $312 million Disaster Recovery Enhancement Fund to encourage States to undertake long-term disaster strategies that focus on reducing the risk of damage from future natural disasters. This fund is reserved for States that spend their CDBG funds on specific disaster recovery activities likely to reduce the extent of damage in the future. These projects may include:

• Buyout payments for homeowners living in high-risk areas;
• Optional relocation payments to encourage residents to move to safer locations;
• Home improvement grants to reduce damage risks (property elevation, reinforced garage doors and windows, etc.);
• Improving and enforcing building codes; and
• Developing forward-thinking land-use plans that reduce development in high-risk areas.

Since 1992, HUD’s CDBG Program has allocated approximately $31 billion to support the long-term disaster recovery of state and local governments, as well as tribal governments.

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