Federal officials are allocating more than $134 million to Mississippi to support local communities’ recovery from major storms that struck the state in 2023 and 2024.
The money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of nearly $12 billion in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds for communities across 24 states and territories. In Mississippi, funding will go toward aiding areas pillaged by severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes in late March 2023, mid June 2023, and mid April 2024.
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“Over the last two years, too many communities have been impacted by devastating disasters – damaging homes, destroying infrastructure, and stretching local capacity to recover,” HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman said.
“This $12 billion in disaster discovery funds will help rebuild homes, develop affordable housing, assist impacted small businesses, and repair roads, schools, water treatment plants, and other critical infrastructure. The impacts of these funds will be felt for years to come – especially for disaster survivors and communities in the most impacted areas.”
To provide guidance for the implementation of this funding, the federal government published the Universal Notice for Community Development Block Grants – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR). Per officials, the Universal Notice is expected to strengthen and improve the administration of grants, incorporating feedback received from grantees, stakeholders, and survivors of disasters.
For the first time, HUD requested public input through the 2022 request for information on CDBG-DR rules, waivers, and alternative requirements. The federal agency received more than 700 unique comments offering feedback on how to make disaster recovery faster and more efficient, effective, resilient, and equitable.
The most recent allocation of CDBG-DR funding and the guidance in the Universal Notice is anticipated to enable 47 grantees – including 23 states, 15 counties, 8 cities, and one territory – to recover from and build resilience to weather-related disasters. This funding supports disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, economic revitalization, and mitigation, in the most impacted and distressed areas.
As the only federal disaster recovery assistance to primarily benefit low-and moderate-income households and communities, this funding can be used to:
- Replace damaged affordable housing and build it back more resiliently.
- Strengthen infrastructure through repairs, upgrades, and activities to increase the resilience of public facilities and infrastructure including roadways, water systems, and utilities.
- Support economic revitalization including support for small businesses, creation of jobs, and assistance for residents.
- Implement disaster mitigation measures to reduce the risk of damage from future extreme weather and disaster events.
Until HUD receives permanent authorization for the CDBG-DR program, the Universal Notice is intended to provide publicly informed, consistent guidance for communities recovering from disasters. The Universal Notice incorporates many of the public’s comments and recommendations, including updates to:
- Improve outcomes, increase access to information, and simplify documentation requirements for disaster survivors
- Expand and extend eligible activities for rental assistance and disaster relief, including allowing reimbursement for these expenses.
- Create new eligible activities for local disaster preparedness and resilience.
- Align more closely with FEMA requirements for environmental reviews and community-driven relocation.
- Streamline Action Plan requirements, and encourage broader community engagement in the Action Plan Formation process.
- Reduce administrative burden on grantees, creating greater flexibility regarding building standards, implementation requirements, and financial management procedures.
