HUD allocates funds for disaster recovery to California, other states and territories
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The federal government is allocating billions of dollars in disaster recovery funding across the country, including areas in California such as Lake County, other portions of the North Coast and Butte County that have been hit by devastating wildland fires.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has allocated more than $2.3 billion to support the long-term disaster recovery process in hard-hit areas in 15 states – including California – as well as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The funds are for declared disasters including the Sulphur fire and Mendocino complex in Lake County.
“Today, we take another important step to ensure those hardest-hit by recent disasters can fully recover,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “The grants awarded today will help these local communities continue the recovery process of rebuilding their homes, restoring their businesses and repairing their critical infrastructure.”
In addition to California, states included in the allocation include Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.
The allocation announced Thursday is supported through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program, or CDBG-DR, and will address seriously damaged housing, businesses and infrastructure from disasters that occurred since 2017, HUD reported.
HUD said the CDBG-DR requires grantees to develop thoughtful recovery plans informed by local residents.
The agency said that, for California, the funding covers the wildland fires that occurred from Oct. 8 to 31, 2017, in Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Sonoma and Yuba counties. In Lake County, that includes the Sulphur fire.
For that time period, total funds approved for the Individual & Households Program is $17,988,120.57, which includes 4,417 approved applications, with $359,184,276.26 in Public Assistance grants.
California also is receiving $5,087,697.22 for the Individual & Households Program, with 737 applications approved, and $165,318,294.64 in Public Assistance grants for Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura counties for fires that occurred between Dec. 4, 2017, and Jan. 31, 2018.
Disaster assistance is being allocated for Lake and Shasta counties for the Mendocino Complex and Carr fires, respectively, which occurred between July 23 and Sept. 19, 2018.
Altogether, HUD approved 499 applications for the Individual & Households Program, totaling $8,092,316.03, with $83,349,413.49 in Public Assistance grants approved.
HUD also said it is funding $89,078,571.04 – for 8,049 approved application – for the Individual & Households Program and $107,220,847.04 for the Public Assistance program for Butte, Los Angeles and Ventura counties for the fires from Nov. 8 to 25, 2018, which includes the Camp fire that devastated Paradise in Butte County.
CDBG-DR grants support a variety of disaster recovery activities including housing redevelopment and rebuilding, business assistance, economic revitalization, and infrastructure repair, HUD reported.
Grantees are required to spend the majority of these recovery funds in “most impacted” areas as identified by HUD. HUD said it will issue administrative guidelines shortly for use of the funds to address grantees’ long-term recovery needs, particularly in the area of housing recovery.
On October 5, 2018, President Trump signed Public Law 115-254, which provides $1.68 billion in CDBG-DR funding for “disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting from a major disaster declared in 2018.” HUD allocated all but $205 million of those funds in an announcement on May 14.
Thursday’s announcement allocates that $205 million between the American Samoa and Northern Marianas as well as providing additional funding for those communities and the other disasters of 2018 through Public Law 116-20.
On June 6, 2019, President Trump signed Public Law 116-20, which provides $2.431 billion, including $431 million to address additional unmet infrastructure needs for 2017 disasters and $2 billion “related to disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, economic revitalization, and mitigation in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting from a major disaster that occurred in 2018 or 2019.”
HUD is announcing allocations for all but $272,072,000 of the funds appropriated under 116-20. After information on all disasters in calendar year 2019 have been taken into consideration, those remaining funds will be allocated, HUD reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.