U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary, Dr. Ben Carson today is making more than $1.3 billion in funding available to the state of Florida, which will immediately help Floridians recover from Hurricane Michael and assist the investment in large scale disaster mitigation projects.
“The great people of Florida and the state leadership continue to show their resilience as they persevere through the recovery process of rebuilding their homes, restoring their businesses, and repairing their critical infrastructure,” said Secretary Carson. “I hope the disaster relief funds being announced today bring a little peace of mind to the people of Florida, aid in their recovery, and assist in the protection against future damage.”
“Thank you to the HUD Staff as well as Governor DeSantis’ staff who have worked tirelessly to get these funds to the people of Florida who need them most for recovery and to help better prepare for future natural disasters,” said HUD Deputy Secretary, Brian Montgomery.
“We are pleased to partner with Florida in the disaster recovery process as well as helping to prepare for future disasters. HUD stands ready to assist and will continue to do so,” said HUD’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, John Gibbs.
The funding announced today is through two separate programs:
- CDBG-MIT
- $633 million provided to the State of Florida under the new Community Development Block Grant, Mitigation Program will allow the state to undertake strategic, high-impact projects to mitigate disaster risks and better protect against future losses.
- CDBG-DR
- $735 million will be available for the State to address unmet housing and infrastructure needs resulting from the impacts of Hurricane Michael on the Florida Panhandle.
CDBG-DR grants support a variety of disaster recovery activities including housing redevelopment and rebuilding, business assistance, economic revitalization, and infrastructure repair. Grantees are required to spend the majority of these recovery funds in “most impacted” areas as identified by HUD.