Loss of FEMA program spells disaster for hundreds of communities and their projects
By JACK BROOK Associated Press Summary for America NEW ORLEANS AP The textile mills that once served as the backbone of Mount Pleasant North Carolina have long been shuttered and authorities assumed federal money would be key to the town s overdue revitalization They hoped an improved stormwater drainage system and secured electrical wires funded through a plan to help communities protect against natural disasters and weather change would safeguard investments in new businesses like a renovated historic theater to spur the largely rural commercial sector Mount Pleasant was about to receive million when the Federal Emergency Management Agency eliminated the initiative Agents say their plans years in the making and those of hundreds of communities nationwide supported by the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities plan have been upended This is a generational set of infrastructure projects that would set us up for the next hundred years and it just poof went away explained Erin Burris assistant town manager for Mount Pleasant miles east of Charlotte FEMA s elimination this month of the BRIC campaign revoked upwards of billion in funding earmarked for communities like Mount Pleasant Though President Donald Trump has openly questioned whether to shutter FEMA fully local personnel stated they were blindsided by the move to end BRIC established during the Republican president s first term FILE A sign for the Federal Exigency Management Agency is pictured at FEMA headquarters April in Washington Al Drago The New York Times via AP Pool A multitude of affected communities are in Republican-dominated disaster-prone regions FEMA called the BRIC grants wasteful and politicized tools but officers and residents say they were a vital use of authorities support to proactively protect lives infrastructure and economies Money would have gone toward strengthening electrical poles to withstand hurricane-force winds in Louisiana relocating residents in Pennsylvania s floodplains and safeguarding water supply lines in Oklahoma s Tornado Alley Disasters affect the vast majority of Americans live in a county that has had a federally declared weather tragedy since declared Amy Chester director of Rebuild by Design a nonprofit focused on catastrophe prevention The BRIC activity communicated communities We re going to help your region be stronger ahead of time she stated Cutting one of the sole sources of funding for that need is essentially telling Americans that it s OK that they re suffering Leaders call FEMA s campaign imperfect but essential Across multiple states functionaries disclosed the BRIC scheme was far from perfect they were often frustrated with the wait for funding But in southeastern Louisiana Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson commented despite his issues with FEMA s bureaucracy he s seen firsthand that money invested to fortify homes and infrastructure works Related Articles Promises made promises kept Trump s agenda remains a work in progress after days Other voices Muck up the tax code to control tariff damage Bad idea James Stavridis My old warship is caught up in the battle over DEI Trump expresses doubts Putin is willing to end the Ukraine war a day after saying a deal was close F D Flam Geoengineering s risks need to be studied more The hurricane-ravaged state receives the highest rate of federal accident assistance per capita with more than billion pouring in since according to Rebuild by Design Lafourche Parish has seen more than a dozen federally declared extreme weather disasters since Lafourche had been set to receive more than million from several grants to replace wooden electrical poles with steel and take other procedures to lower the soaring costs of home insurance Chaisson a Republican whose parish saw of voters promotion Trump in November explained he backs efforts to streamline federal agencies as long as funding continues to flow for tragedy prevention I m hopeful that that s what the president s trying to do with this he explained Is there chosen other way to get the money so we can continue to do these projects No matter where you sit on the political spectrum the programs themselves and the dollars allocated make our communities more resilient Research backs him up A research funded by the U S Chamber of Commerce located every invested in tragedy preparation saved in economic impact damage and cleanup costs Democratic personnel in states that lost money have publicly expressed outrage Inadequate Republicans have joined in at a national level even though about two-thirds of the top states in total FEMA funds received spending per person and number of federally declared disasters lean heavily Republican An exception has been Louisiana s senior U S senator Bill Cassidy He took to the Senate floor this month calling for BRIC s reinstatement saying it s a lifesaver and a cost-saver About million intended for Louisiana evaporated and functionaries had to shelve dozens of applications for hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding according to evidence compiled by state and federal agencies This isn t waste Cassidy mentioned To do anything other than use that money to fund flood mitigation projects is to thwart the will of Congress FEMA says more than billion of BRIC funds will be returned to the federal Catastrophe Relief Fund for catastrophe response and recovery and an additional million is being returned to the U S Treasury or reapportioned by Congress in the following fiscal year Agency officers did not comment further for this story Selected states fight to restore funds Twenty-two mostly blue states and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit demanding the federal executive release obligated funding including FEMA grants The lawsuit highlights Grants Pass in conservative southern Oregon where FEMA has refused to release BRIC funding awarded for a million water rehabilitation facility Flooding could knock out the water supply for people for months revealed Jason Canady city citizens works director Funding would have been used in part to build a modernized plant on higher ground If you can t provide drinking water hospitals groceries restaurants are going to have trouble Economically it would be devastating he announced It really is the cornerstone on which the society is built In Stillwater Oklahoma Mayor Will Joyce spent two years working with FEMA on a BRIC application to overhaul and provide backup supply for a regional water system used by people Its -mile pipeline is at threat of damage from tornadoes and flooding If it breaks Stillwater has less than a day s worth of reserve drinking water We can t just hope nothing bad happens Joyce announced This project is a necessity Without FEMA s patronage he noted Stillwater will have to double the cost of water for residents to fund the project In an open letter U S Rep Rob Bresnahan Jr a northeast Pennsylvania Republican urged FEMA to revive BRIC saying communities in his district would struggle to fund catastrophe adaptation work including relocating families in flooded homes Bresnahan wrote that programs like BRIC are not wasteful but well within the purview of federal coordination of catastrophe relief efforts and noted that Trump promised not to leave the forgotten men and women of America behind Particular towns fear their requirements will be forgotten In Mount Pleasant Whit Moose the fourth-generation owner of a downtown pharmacy announced minimal of his neighbors seem aware that funding disappeared though his own business would have benefited It was going to be a wonderful thing he reported Now we just got to start over Republican voters in the town embrace efforts to downsize regime but the perception is that cuts are focused on federal bureaucracy related waste and redundancy or diversity equity and inclusion spending reported Jim Quick vice chairman of the Cabarrus County Republican Party It would be a surprise for us to learn that those budget cuts would be impacting a local municipality Quick reported The reality is all of us have to trim back Town voters are unlikely to retract their aid for Trump he mentioned noting that supported him in November Burris the assistant town manager worries about flooding downtown And she points to one vulnerable utility pole she s nicknamed Atlas after the Greek god carrying the world on his shoulders holding up the electricity internet and telecommunications for the town s people It s a special group and it deserves good things Burris reported choking up I don t know what was political about Mount Pleasant little teeny tiny Mount Pleasant getting a little bit of help with a few stormwater flooding Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press Statement for America Statehouse News Initiative Description for America is a nonprofit national system undertaking that places journalists in local newsrooms to document on undercovered issues
