HUD PROVIDES $79 MILLION TO HELP NORTH DAKOTA RECOVER FROM LAST YEAR'S DEVASTATING FLOODS
Secretary Donovan exercises full legal authority to help State, Ward County and Minot

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today allocated $79.3 million in emergency aid to help North Dakota communities recover from last year's devastating flooding. Provided through HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, these grants will support long-term disaster recovery efforts in areas with the greatest extent of 'unmet need.'

The State of North Dakota will receive $11,782,684 and will target at least 80 percent of this grant to help Ward County to recover from severe flooding. In addition, HUD is providing $67,575,964 directly to the City of Minot which was especially hard hit and had the greatest extent of unmet needs in the state.

"When I visited Minot before this flooding, I saw the strength and resiliency of its citizens," said Donovan. "However, last year's floods continue to present a huge hardship on the lives and livelihoods of North Dakotans. These funds will supplement other forms of disaster assistance to put these communities on the path toward long-term recovery."

On November 18, 2011, Congress appropriated $100 million in CDBG funds to support long-term disaster recovery throughout the nation. At that same time, Congress gave HUD the authority to allocate up to $300 million in additional CDBG funds to assist "the most impacted and distressed areas" in the wake of last year's disasters. Donovan elected to exercise HUD's full authority by targeting the maximum amount of CDBG funding allowed toward helping states and local areas, including North Dakota and the City of Minot.

These funds are intended to confront unmet housing, business and infrastructure needs beyond those addressed by other forms of public and private assistance. Using a combination of federal data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA), HUD identified those states and local communities most impacted and requiring the greatest assistance to recover due to the devastating tornadoes in the Southeast and Missouri; the remnants of Hurricanes Irene and Lee in the Northeast and New England; severe flooding in parts of North Dakota; and destructive wildfires in Texas.

Before these grants can be obligated, grantees will submit an action plan to HUD identifying the proposed use of all funds and how their use will address long-term recovery. All State and local grantees must also certify that they have the capacity to adequately manage these funds in a timely and compliant manner. CDBG disaster recovery funds cannot be used to reimburse costs for which funds are made available by FEMA or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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