When Hurricane Florence flooded New Bern, North Carolina, in 2018, hundreds of families lost their affordable apartments. More than five years later, a few dozen new apartments finally opened — but by then, most of the original tenants had already moved to other cities. That's the kind of delay that has plagued American disaster recovery for decades, and it might finally be ending.
Congress has passed a bipartisan bill that would permanently authorize the Department of Housing and Urban Development's disaster recovery program, turning it from a temporary, one-time effort into a standing part of how the country responds to hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. The program has provided more than $100 billion to disaster areas over the last few decades, but it has always depended on Congress approving money after each disaster. That approval process could take months or years — or sometimes never come at all.
Stan Gimont, a former HUD official who oversaw the program under both the Obama and Trump administrations, said the new approach could be transformative. "All the tumblers are there to make it work now," Gimont told reporters. "They all line up, and it should all go a lot more quickly."
The changes could address what experts call a "valley of death" in disaster recovery. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, provides aid for up to 18 months after a disaster. But HUD's recovery money often didn't arrive until two or three years later, leaving communities stranded without either kind of help. Some communities are still trying to access funds approved after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 or California wildfires in 2017.
The new bill would create a permanent disaster recovery unit inside HUD, establish a dedicated disaster fund, and let the department start spending money as soon as FEMA's aid winds down — rather than waiting years for congressional approval. It would also cut down the time spent on environmental reviews and other bureaucratic steps that have held up past projects.
Carlos Martín, a housing researcher at the think tank Resources for the Future, said the reform could fundamentally change how communities rebuild. "There's been this valley of death in recovery," Martín explained, "and this just decreases that valley of death to being more like a crack."
President Trump has said he won't sign the bill, but Congress has enough votes to override a veto if needed. If he does not veto it by the end of today, it will become law automatically.