The July 7th House Homeland Security Committee hearing “FEMA Housing: An Examination of Current Problems and Innovative Solutions” brought up many crucial points about disaster housing - one of the most unresolved problems in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and subsequent storms. Most of the questions were directed at FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner.
Committee members Mark Souder (R-IN) and Mike Rogers (R-AL) posed a number of compelling questions. They asked why transitional and permanent housing after a disaster are FEMA’s responsibility, and why there was no timeline or exit strategy for transitioning FEMA interim housing responsibilities to HUD and others.
Particularly interesting was a point made by Rep. Rogers - at what point does a post-disaster housing crisis cease to be an emergency and merit removal from FEMA’s jurisdiction? Almost four years after Hurricane Katrina, over 2,700 FEMA trailers are still inhabited on the Gulf Coast. Four years later, should recovery still be FEMA’s responsibility? Or should there be a timeline of 12-24 months, after which FEMA leaves permanent housing recovery to HUD?
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, HUD did not play a role in the recovery efforts. Nearly a year after Katrina, HUD and FEMA finally entered into an Interagency Agreement (IAA), creating the pilot Disaster Housing Assistance Program (page 49). In late September 2008, FEMA and HUD again signed an IAA to administer the Disaster Housing Assistance Program for 31,000 families to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Ike through rental assistance and case management.
There continues to be no permanent agreement between FEMA and HUD and, as a result, HUD has only been dealing with housing disaster victims on an ad hoc basis. While HUD’s ability to “take the reins” in disaster housing recovery is not known, many post-Katrina reports and recommendations - including those of the White House (page 50) and the House of Representatives (page 314) - recommend that HUD play a larger role in housing recovery efforts, taking advantage of their expertise in this area. If HUD can develop plans for transitional and permanent housing on a mass scale, overall recovery efforts could become more efficient and cost effective.
Shira Silver is an intern with the Disaster Accountability Project. She is a student at the University of Maryland.
16 users commented in " A Housing Timeline for FEMA? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThey glossed over the matter of ”
cost effectiveness.” The deal FEMA struck with the Red Cross during Katrina about payment to hotels for evacuees’ stays resulted in much fraudulent billing. Hopefully the new program will have safeguards, including oversight.
FEMA is an agency that provides aid to communities in need and should be used as such, an aid. FEMA should not solely be responsible for post disaster cleanup or housing. As part of the state and local government responsibilities for preparedness and mitigation, I believe they should have plans to provide housing and assistance to those who lose their homes during a disaster or emergency. State and local governs should work closely with HUD and FEMA to integrate individuals out of interim housing and back on their own feet in a realistic timeframe (6 mos).
In order for our NIMS to be effective we need to rely on our own individual capabilities and skills. Our state and local governments should be prepared for disasters with proper shelter and means of communications with it’s citizens. An individual should have a plan of action in case they lost their home, car, or other personal belonging (ex. insurance, savings). Relying solely on an aiding agency will lead to further delay,cost and loss.
The mission of FEMA is “to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.” This is saying that FEMA is to decrease the effects from the disaster and to help respond to and recover from the disaster. The recovery time frame should be a year or less, depending on the type of emergency or disaster. By the time a year is up they should be transferring some of the duties to HUD. The mission of HUD is “to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination. To fulfill this mission HUD will embrace high standards of ethics, management and accountability and forge new partnerships (particularly with faith based and community organizations) that leverage resources and improve HUD’s ability to be effective on the community level.” HUD is also in charge of flood insurance management and relief during national emergencies and disasters.
FEMA and HUD only have limited resources so the housing responsibilities should be shared. FEMA should be in charge of doing the temporary and immediate relief housing and HUD should be trying to work on semi permanent/permanent post disaster or emergency housing. This will help make the temporary housing readily available through FEMA in case another emergency is to occur because if the temporary housing is still being used for many years post emergency it is less likely to be available for others in need. When the temporary housing is unavailable for others, it is not making the best use and management of resources. If HUD and FEMA were to work together and officially develop a plan and work with state and local governments, between all of these resources they could be much more cost effective and develop a much better plan of help for the victims of these unfortunate disasters. When all of these work together it will help to mitigate the response to the emergency.
HUD absolutely should play a larger role in housing recovery efforts, especially after the immediate emergency has passed. HUD’s expertise is in housing, particularly long-term housing. FEMA is responsible for ensuring that the United States “mitigates and is prepared for all types of disasters,” including those that are natural, technological and terrorism related. (Introduction to Homeland Security, p.90) It is charged with managing the federal response and the recovery efforts that follow disaster incidents as declared by the president. The unanswered question is: When does a federal disaster end?
It makes sense to have FEMA involved when there is an immediate need for interim housing, but FEMA should not remain the main supplier of housing for several years after a disaster. Permanent housing recovery should be the responsibility of HUD and officials there need to step up. Additionally, state and local housing officials should be involved in the long-term housing assistance for their residents impacted by the disaster.
I recognize that different disasters will require different timelines for removal from FEMA’s jurisdiction, but there should be a timeline. There is no valid excuse for there to be more than 2,700 trailers still being lived in by victims of Hurricane Katrina. It has been nearly four years since that disaster. It seems that HUD officials are taking advantage of the lack of a permanent agreement between their agency and FEMA to leave much of the housing burden on FEMA’s shoulders. I find that troubling. Perhaps FEMA needs to declare its own timeline in such situations. After the immediate response is implemented, FEMA officials can determine a reasonable deadline for when HUD, along with state and local agencies, are required to take the reins of responsibility. Additionally, the president could sign off on the recommended timeline, which would give it greater weight.
I agree with the recommendation of the various reports that HUD should develop plans for implementing large-scale transitional and permanent housing. If such plans were in place, they could easily be adapted to individual disaster incidents and victims would be transitioned to permanent replacement housing much sooner than they are today.
One of the problems with transitioning housing responsibilities from FEMA to HUD is a code and engineering one. FEMA trailers, while good for their mobility and ability to deploy rapidly, are expensive, have a short life span, and are not sustainable aid. Conversely, HUD is largely concerned with developing permanent housing, which needs to be up to code for occupation.
I think most people recognize that there should be a transition of power from FEMA to HUD, but the bottom line is that its a complicated process. DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner spoke of the importance of “thinking outside the box”. To this end, there have been some very innovative projects that developed rapidly deployable housing units of basic design. These homes can be retrofitted and easily expanded on and improved (brought up to code). This encourages homeowners to shoulder a certain amount of the burden since they feel their efforts will be rewarded.
I believe that there should be a certain time limit that allows citizens to recieve help from groups such as FEMA. The maximum amount of time given should not pass a year. The reason I think there needs to be a time limit is because, unfortunately, there are people out there that will take advantage of the system. It is horrible for people that lose their homes and belongings and as a government we should have groups such as FEMA and HUD to help out but not for people to live off of for long periods of time.
As homeowners, we need to have plans of action incase a disaster were to happen. This could be something as little as having homeowner’s insurance. Although it is not under our control if a natural disaster ruins a whole city or possibly more, we cannot rely on FEMA to pick up the costs of our living situation for as long as we need. There are little things we could do to help get back on our feet (such as staying with family or friends while saving money). No matter what we do, FEMA should be there to assist us in getting back on our feet, not taking over all of our expenses.
I believe that there needs to be a timeframe on how long people can depend on groups such as FEMA to help them with their after-disaster clean up and expenses. This time limit should not go past 1 year. FEMA is there to partner with the government to find the best ways to help disaster victims get back on track. The reason I believe that there should be a time frame on how long groups, such as FEMA or HUD, help disaster victims is because, unfortunately, some people will try to take advantage of the system. FEMA is not there for people to live off of until they feel like getting things together. It is there for support so that if your town gets destroyed and needs to start over, they will help the clean up and the expenses.
As citizens of this country, we need to have plans of action incase a disaster were to happen to ourselves. This could be something as little as just having homeowner’s insurance. If a natural disaster were to occur, hopefully most of us will have family or friends nearby that could help out while we get back on our feet. I feel that we should not look away from the help that FEMA offers, but we should do whatever we can to take control in our own hands and get back to where we need to be. FEMA is there to help, not to live the rest of our lives for us.
After such an aftermath like Katrina, a lot of loopholes would be found. Now is the time to straighten all the avenues up on who does what and when instead of playing the blame game. Unfortunetly, it looks like not much has been resolved. FEMA needs to be the one to initially be there to do what they’re suppose to and thats take care of the people asap. As for people taking advantage of the system, FEMA should take care of the initial situation and after that the people should be in a better situation and able to make the adjustments on their own.
In HUD’s responsibility of such a situation with cleaning up the remains of FEMA’s assistance is another process that needs to be set in place on what HUD is to do and not to do. These two entities need to work together to determine who needs and gets the help that both of these resources were set out to do.
From what I have been reading HUD is doing what its obligations were given. It may be true the suggestions that HUD play a larger roll but whom are we to blame for this? It seems once again we see the constant political pen writing faster then anyone can keep up but no real action or responsibility given and FEMA seems to be doing what it can but again tied to the lack of proper legislation. The fact we are so many years after Katrina and still talking about this gives a clue as to the real problems at hand. In regards to temporary housing, we still have families living in them near or remote to New Orleans, years later means these people are no longer apart of the local community they may have grown up in. it would seem more affiant to have a system of mobile units that can be moved into a region for the many that tend not to want to be disconnected. In order for HUD and FEMA to embrace high standards of ethics, management and accountability (as some said in a post) I feel nothing will really change.
I do not feel that FEMA should still be held solely responsible for the continued effort of recovery for New Orleans. At this point I don’t even think FEMA should be involved anymore, New Orleans is no longer considered emergent and trailers/emergent housing was provided. I’m surprised a guideline or time frame hasn’t already been developed in regards to the federal government providing aide post disaster, however, 4 years is almost to the point of being ridiculous. I cant even begin to try to understand how those who were effected feel after loosing everything, however, I know I am a fighter and would do everything possible to get back on my own two feet. It would be nice to hear posts from those who are actually affected by the aid received from FEMA.
I’m not exactly sure that a guideline for providing federal aid can be so strictly defined by time, although a time frame should be set preemptively and evaluated along with other criteria. Criteria for the length of time federal aid should be provided could be based on the level of destruction caused by the disaster, such as dollar amount and number of people affected in a devastating way. Of course the more people affected and higher dollar amount of destruction would equal longer relief aid from the federal government with a cap of 2 years. I feel after 2 years HUD or other state agencies should be able to step in and provide relief. FEMA wasn’t established to return a disaster site back to its 100% functionality pre-disaster and the individuals affected by the disaster need to take the initiative to recover besides waiting for federal relief.
After reading the IAA for FEMA and HUD in regards to New Orleans I couldn’t believe 478 million was allocated for “rental assistance, security and utility deposits and case management”. Could our country afford another disaster? Is there any money available if another disaster occurred today at the same level of Hurricane Katrina?
The fact that HUD seems to be ignoring the whole point of their mission is ridiculous. FEMA went into the aftermath of Katrina with the intent of helping people and first responders to make sure people were safe. The idea that FEMA is still being left to deal with this tragedy 4 years after the fact is unacceptable and really needs to be looked at.
I know that in other disasters, people have been given the choice to rebuild their own houses or to purchase the trailers. Maybe that is exactly where HUD should be taking over. Since these trailers have been lived in for 4 years, it is time for the people living in them to take ownership like they have in the Idaho floods or get another place to live. That would be the place that makes a lot of sense for HUD to step in and help make something happen.
This is a issue that I have never fully thought of and it is a good topic. FEMA has been great with providing homes to those in need and helping them out. As much as those in need will continue to need help for years to come there needs to be a time line for how long FEMA can help in order for people of future disasters to get help before funds run out.
With thought I think that FEMA should only be responsible to help out families for 24 months. This gives plenty of time for their home to be repaired. After this point it should be turned over to hud where the victim can apply for additional support for an extended amount of time. If we do not have a time line people may delay fixing their home. This may motivate homeowners and builders to get things done faster.
I agree that 24 months should have been an end time for FEMA to continue to house people displaced by hurricaine Katrina. The initial response was slow and cumbersome and it makes me wonder if part of the overcompensation was politically motivatedd. There needs to be clear guidlines between FEMA and HUD so that the American taxpayer does not end up footing the bill for neglect and negligance.
The President’s declaration of a State of Emergency was approriate at thet time but enough is enough. It is also unfair to displace the families that have been housed in trailers etc. without ample warning. They should have been given a time line with clear expectations for an end to their “temporary” housing solution.
I agree that 24 months is a reasonable amount of time for displaced residents to relocate and find shelter on their own. FEMA’s initial response was both disorganized and slow. It is easy to consider that the political ramifications of removing the trailers and leaving people “homeless” again would be devastating politically. It would also be morally corrupt.
Expecting FEMA and HUD to develop a plan of transition would be both reasonable and prudent. FEMA is for emergency response and HUD is the housing administration. However neither of these agencies are real estate agents and their use should be limited and clearly defined. The displaced residents should have these time lines defined and given ample time to relocate their families into permanent housing.
I think that FEMA should have an exit strategy. The idea that we are still in areas that are not emergent is concerning not only economically but also because resources are being used which could be used else where. Hud should definately be involved, but before we expect HUD to step in we should take a look and make sure that HUD has the necessary resources to step in. Being in an area for 4 plus years is a clear case of somebody dropping the proverbial ball.
HUD has a responsibility to step in just as FEMA has one to react to an emergency. HUD not stepping in is equal to FEMA not reacting and should be labled as negligence. I’m not proposing that HUD’s involvement should be endless either. I think that a 12-24 month comitment should be placed on both agencies with a possible 6 month extension. This would encourage people to rebuild and stop living off of the governments generosities.
Jack Ferren Initial posting
FEMA is responsible for the recovery efforts that follow a disaster, emergency and or incidents as declared by the president. The question is” When does a federal disaster end”, at what point does FEMA exit and HUD along with state and local agencies take over. ? I am appalled to learn that 4 years later, more than 2,700 trailers are still being lived in by victims of Hurricane Katrina. A timeline needs to be set after the first responders begin to recover; an assessment is in order and a timeline plan to strategically rebuild. Pending on the type of devastation to the area an estimate of time to completion may need to suffice until such time as a realistic deadline is agreed upon. HUD should develop plans for implementing large-scale transitional and permanent housing. If such plans were in place, they could easily be adapted to individual disaster incidents and victims would be transitioned to permanent replacement housing much sooner than they are today. The key word is “temporary”, who was monitoring the situation? Why the time lapse and delay s? The responsibility begins locally; I recommend that HUD play a larger role in housing recovery efforts, taking advantage of their expertise in this area. If HUD should develop plans for transitional and permanent housing on a mass scale, overall recovery efforts could become more efficient and cost effective. Post disaster recovery and relief is the responsibility in my opinion in this case of HUD and local agencies. FEMA’s role is first responder and temporary relief.
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