June 28, 2018

HUD: $616 Million Florida Disaster Recovery Plan Approved

Funding will target housing, infrastructure and economic development recovery

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson today announced he is approving a disaster recovery plan to help Floridians recover from Hurricane Irma.  In November, HUD allocated $616 million to the Sunshine State to support long-term recovery efforts.

The Florida action plan approved today is funded through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant—Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program which requires grantees to develop a thoughtful recovery program informed by local residents.  Learn more about CDBG-DR and the State’s role in long-term disaster recovery (en español).

“This funding is part of the Trump Administration’s continued commitment to helping the residents of Florida impacted by Irma to recover and rebuild their homes and their lives,” said Secretary Carson. “As we move along the road to recovery, HUD will be right by Florida’s side to help in any way we can to make the state whole again.”

Governor Rick Scott said, “It’s great news that we were able to secure critical funding from HUD that will directly benefit the families who were most affected by last year’s storms. This $616 million will enable communities to build new affordable housing and to replace homes lost in the wake of last year’s hurricane season. Through this program, we can continue to move forward with long-term affordable housing solutions for displaced families as well as provide grants to businesses who were impacted by the storm. We won’t stop working until all of Florida’s communities have fully recovered.”

To address unmet needs, the State of Florida has identified several housing and economic development recovery needs arising from Hurricane Irma and has designed the following programs to address those unmet needs and assist in the recovery:

In April, HUD also allocated an additional $791 million of CDBG-DR funding to Florida for unmet need, infrastructure and mitigation purposes.  HUD will shortly issue requirements governing those funds, and Florida, along with other states, will be required to submit plans addressing their use.  Read more about the additional disaster recovery/mitigation funding to Florida.

This post was originally published here.