INDIANAPOLIS (August 21, 2008) - Governor Mitch Daniels today announced he will direct the first $10 million of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to help local cities, towns or counties acquire homes impacted from June flooding and develop the property into community green space.
"These funds will assist with the long-term recovery efforts many communities are facing in the aftermath of a devastating event," said Andy Miller, director of the Indiana Office of Disaster Recovery. "This is a needed and beneficial first step, and we will continue to pursue additional funding to help meet the needs of affected Hoosiers."
The CDBG funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and represents a portion of the supplemental funding Congress appropriated in July for emergency disaster assistance in the Midwestern states affected by recent storms. It will be administered by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority through an acquisition program that will allow local units of government to purchase flood damaged homes located in a flood plain and develop the property into permanent green space for community use. The voluntary program must be initiated by a local community and be agreed to by individual homeowners. Interested communities must submit a grant application to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS). Once a property is approved for purchase, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will cover 75 percent of the acquisition cost with the remaining 25 percent to be paid by the local unit of government, which can use CDBG funding to offset its match requirement.
Priority will be given to communities with the greatest needs considering the concentration of affected individuals and financial need of each local unit of government. Grant applications for the acquisition program and CDBG match funds will be available from IDHS beginning August 27.
Here are some additional updates on the state's disaster recovery progress:
- More than 17,000 Hoosiers have applied for Individual Assistance through FEMA resulting in the delivery of more than $110 million. Approximately 12,000 individuals have been referred to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for low-interest loans and/or other FEMA assistance. Those who have unmet needs may call FEMA at 1-800-621-3362 or contact one of the long-term recovery committees that have been established in many counties. These committees are funded in many cases by United Way and members are local leaders, case managers and other volunteers. A list of these committees can be found at http://www.emergency.in.gov/.
- Nearly 400 local units of government or qualifying not-for-profit organizations have submitted requests for public assistance. FEMA estimates that total public assistance funds will exceed $150 million.
- IDHS has retained Witt & Associates to provide contract resources to aid the state in administering FEMA's Public Assistance (PA) process and the IDHS hazard mitigation program. The company will work under the supervision of IDHS staff and help local units of government understand the PA process and maximize the amount of federal funding brought to the state. Witt & Associates is a national firm founded by former FEMA Administrator James Lee Witt that specializes in aiding states in the disaster recovery process.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 2 percent to 3 percent of affected total acres of Indiana farmland may be abandoned or not harvested. Although the percent of abandoned acres for corn at 4.5 percent and soybeans at 0.9 percent is more than twice the percentage of 2007, this is still well below the 7 to 9 percent flooded estimate in June, indicating many acres were replanted or had at least partially recovered.
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