HUD Adds $5B to Sandy Recovery Funding

WASHINGTON, DC-A day before the one-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy's destructive swath through the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, the Obama administration announced a second round of recovery funds through the Department of Housing and Urban Development totaling $5 billion. The funds, much of which will be allocated to New York City and State, are intended to help the affected communities resolve their remaining housing, economic development and infrastructure needs.

“One year later, it's clear these communities continue to be challenged by the sheer scale of this devastating storm, requiring further investment to make certain these needs are met,” says Shaun Donovan, HUD secretary and chair of President Obama's Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force. HUD is administering the Sandy recovery funds through its Community Development Block Grant program.

The new allocations follow the first round of Sandy recovery funds announced by HUD this past February, which totaled $5.4 billion. New York City's allocation this round will be $1.343 billion, compared to $1.773 billion in February, while the Empire State's allocation will increase from $1.713 billion in February to just under $2.1 billion in the funds announced Monday.

New Jersey will be in line for $1.461 billion in the second round of allocations, while Connecticut will receive $65 million. Maryland and Rhode Island round out the list with allocations of $19 million and $16 million, respectively.

HUD allocates CDBG-Disaster Recovery funds using the best available data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Small Business Administration disaster loan programs, the US Department of Transportation and the Army Corps of Engineers to identify the areas of greatest need in the region impacted by Sandy. These allocations will be published in the Federal Register in the coming weeks, along with criteria for their use.

Separately, Sen. Charles Schumer on Monday released a report showing that New York State is set to receive an estimated $6.3 billion in Sandy recovery funds in 2014. Of that, $1.4 billion will be sent directly to benefit homeowners in New York, $2.5 billion will pay for additional FEMA obligations, $1.5 billion will be allocated for transportation projects, $200 million will go to Army Corps projects in New York, $200 million will be set aside for green infrastructure and there will be $274 million in health funds and $207 million for major veterans' construction projects.