Latest news with #BuildingResilientInfrastructureandCommunitiesprogram
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Florida's Elevate Florida program in jeopardy?
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — For Floridians who've faced repeated flooding, the state offered a possible solution: make their homes more storm-resistant with financial help from the new Elevate Florida program. But how likely are some of those hurricane-stricken homeowners to get the help they need? Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now The deadline to apply for the Elevate Florida program was in April. People like Nancy Biddle, who owns property in St. Pete beach, are waiting to hear if help is on the way or if funding cuts could leave them high and dry. News article leads to another charge against former New College official: MCSO 'The front two apartments they would become garage and storage, and then the second flood would be built above it which would be the new apartments,' Biddle said. Last year's hurricane season left Biddle with a hefty bill. Biddle owned three apartments in St. Pete Beach. Biddle's sister lived in one; she rented out the other two. Now, she needs to get all three repaired, but because of the damage done, code inspectors have determined she will need to make major changes to stormproof them against future hurricanes. The cost of making those improvements is not cheap. 'Right around $400,000,' she said. That's why Biddle was thrilled to hear about the launch of Elevate Florida — a program designed to help people that need to do more than just fix what's broken. They need to renovate their properties, sometimes even redesign them completely to raise them above flood waters or storm surge. 'I just thought that is fabulous,' Biddle said. 'The state is doing something to help people.' Kevin Guthrie is the executive director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management. In March, Guthrie told 8 On Your Side that the goal of Elevate Florida was to start raising homes in flood-prone areas by this summer. 'Not only is it going to help get people out of the floodway, by getting them out of the floodway, that's going to reduce their flood insurance premiums,' Guthrie said. In Nancy Biddle's case, the program could cover at least 75% of the cost to raise her apartments. If she is approved. Biddle applied Feb. 14 and has been waiting ever since. 'I got an email once it's in process, but I haven't heard anything from the lease at least three months,' she said. The state is relying on $400 million in federal funds to pay for the program. Elevate Florida stopped accepting new applications on April 11, citing funding limitations. That same day, the Federal Emergency Management Agency eliminated $300 million in funding for another program meant to help make communities across Florida less vulnerable to storms. It was called the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, or BRIC. In a statement, a FEMA spokesperson wrote: 'The BRIC program was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program. It was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.' Ethan Frey of the Florida Policy Institute — a non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank — said eliminating programs like BRIC can leave Florida less prepared when the next hurricane comes. 'They've cut numerous programs that fund Florida's emergency response network,' Frey said. Frey said a federal judge ordered the Trump Administration to unfreeze federal funding, meaning it's possible the needed funds can flow soon, but Biddle worried that Elevate Florida could face the same fate as BRIC. 'I'm not really sure where this goes,' Biddle said. 'If this, as the government program has ended, we're kind of right back where we started.' 'I think they're right to be worried,' Frey said. 'It's in that same category of funding that the administration right now is labeling as waste fraud and abuse and so it's definitely at risk and a lot of the FEMA funding is still frozen from what we understand. Most of these programs are still held up.' With hurricane season less than a month away, time is running out for Biddle to storm proof her property. She knows she has to adapt. She just hopes she can get some help doing it. 'We live in Florida,' she said. 'It's what happens and there's no denying that we have to be productive in how we change the way we live.' The Florida Department of Emergency Management did not respond to our questions about the future of the Elevate Florida program, but they did issue a statement online that if more funding becomes available, the portal may reopen for more people to apply. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
This Climate Program Saved the U.S. $6 for Every $1 Spent. Trump Just Killed It.
As floodwaters surged through the streets of Natchitoches last month, soaking homes and businesses in this rural Louisiana town, residents were left grappling with yet another devastating blow. Over a thousand residents lost power as the muddy waters left behind waterlogged homes and damaged possessions. It was the fifth major flooding event the small majority-Black city has seen in the past decade. The community was hoping, however, that it wouldn't have many more flood events to face. Last year, they were selected to receive support through a federal program that promised to fund critical infrastructure projects to mitigate weather disasters. Established in 2018 during the first Trump administration, the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, or BRIC, is the largest climate adaptation initiative the federal government has ever funded. Or rather, it was the nation's largest climate adaptation program. According to an April 2 memo, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is canceling more than a billion dollars worth of BRIC grants that have not been paid out yet by the federal government, including a $120,000 grant that Natchitoches was going to use to improve its backup generator system. During severe storms, the new generator would power a system that pumps out floodwaters. 'Any funding, especially for a smaller place, you want to win and keep it. I don't have an unlimited pot of money,' said Ronnie Williams, who became Natchitoches' first Black mayor in 2020. 'We rely heavily on applying for federal grants and were successful under the Biden administration,' he added, noting that it would be nearly impossible to make infrastructure improvements without them. 'It is concerning what Elon Musk and others are doing. It seems there won't be much money available for non-wealthy places soon.' The news of BRIC ending was first reported by Grist, an online climate magazine. 'BRIC was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program,' a FEMA spokesperson said after Grist reported the news. 'It was more concerned with climate change than helping Americans [affected] by natural disasters.' BRIC helped communities prepare for disasters before they happened, and it focused on helping the most vulnerable people face climate threats. Ending the program deepens America's climate protection divide, with Black communities already bearing the heaviest burden. After disasters, the wealth of white homeowners actually increases because of federal aid, while Black residents lose $27,000 on average. By funding preemptive projects and focusing on rural and poorer communities, BRIC had the power to reverse some of this trend. With President Donald Trump's recent threats to dismantle FEMA entirely, vulnerable places and low-income communities may lack the resources to rebuild from disasters. In a letter to the Trump administration sent the day after the memo was sent, Valerie Foushee, a Black congresswoman representing hurricane-stricken North Carolina wrote that 'undermining the federal government's disaster response capabilities [and] the decision to eliminate FEMA could ultimately cost American lives.' Eliminating the agency and programs 'will strand communities in crisis,' she added. The decision to end the program came the same week that at least seven people were killed by tornadoes, and other parts of the country experienced a once-in-a-generation flooding event. The move adds to other federal actions, like removing climate adaptation tools documents from agency websites and redirecting funds previously earmarked for communities vulnerable to climate disasters. Analyses show that communities with larger shares of minority residents were more likely to apply for BRIC funding, although applications from towns and cities in wealthier, more populated states were most likely to receive the funding. Under the Biden administration, BRIC was included in an initiative that outlined that at least 40% of all federal spending had to be in disadvantaged communities, meaning the program was becoming more likely to reach Black and low-income areas. It was for this reason — focusing on increasing equity in diverse communities — that the program was canceled. Trump has called for the ending of most Biden-era efforts that funneled more climate-related spending toward underrepresented groups — even though BRIC was actually created under Trump's leadership. BRIC typically covered 75% of the cost associated with these projects and as much as 90% of the cost for projects in disadvantaged communities, like Natchitoches. Studies show that by investing upfront costs in infrastructure, the government could save trillions of dollars by preventing damage from severe weather and climate threats like sea level rise. BRIC funding focused on large-scale infrastructure upgrades to nature-based solutions, each tailored to address specific vulnerabilities of communities facing threats from floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes. Read More: After a Wildfire Takes Your Home, How Do You Get Your 'Soul' Back? These initiatives ranged from large-scale infrastructure upgrades to nature-based solutions, each tailored to address specific vulnerabilities of communities facing threats from floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes. Some projects included building floodwalls across the coasts to protect communities from rising waters, improving drainage systems and building natural rain-absorbent gardens in Black neighborhoods to reduce flooding in cities, burying power transmission lines to prevent outages during storms and lower the risk of starting wildfires in drought-stricken places, and restoring wetlands across Texas and Louisiana to absorb hurricane's storm surges. Analyses show the projects have already saved lives and prevented property damage. For every dollar spent on mitigation through BRIC, FEMA estimated a savings of $6 in future disaster recovery costs. In Detroit's Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood, which is 80% Black and where twice as many residents live in poverty as the national average, BRIC-funded sewage improvements now protect over 600 homes from flooding, significantly reducing the financial and emotional toll on residents. The move may face legal challenges because it is unclear if Trump can cancel grants that are already approved with money appropriated by Congress. The post This Climate Program Saved the U.S. $6 for Every $1 Spent. Trump Just Killed It. appeared first on Capital B News.
