FEMA Lauds ‘Historic Funding’ for National Resiliency Plan

With the message of building a resilient nation as its theme, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell outlined progress on the administration’s Strategic Plan for 2022 through 2026, with climate change, increased readiness for older adults, strengthening relationships with tribal nations, and a new vision for people with disabilities among the topics.

“We also want to stop the cycle of response, recovery, rinse and repeats,” she said in a statement. “And thanks to increased investments from the Biden-Harris administration, we have more resources than ever to help communities prepare for and mitigate the impacts of disasters. I look forward to putting the important work of creating a more resilient nation at the top of FEMA’s to-do list in 2024.”

Criswell highlighted the $1.8 billion allotted for critical resilience project funding by the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program and $642 million for the Flood Mitigation Assistance projects.

That “historic” funding helps address the effects of climate change by fueling mitigation projects in 55 states and territories, such as:

• Strengthening the electrical grid in Jefferson Parish, La., by equipping poles and wires to withstand 150 mph winds.
• Installing sewer mains in Detroit’s Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood for the protection of more than 600 homes from flooding.
• Planting 10,500 trees in Portland, Ore., to reduce extreme heat conditions and to mitigate urban flooding during heavy rainfall events.

A FEMA goal has been to strengthen relationships with tribal nations to help those nations build resiliency. Last year, FEMA launched the National Tribal Strategy Progress Report and a web-based Tribal Affairs Hub, and also made available $18 million for a Tribal Cybersecurity Grant Program.

Last year FEMA increased readiness resources for older adults and made readying that population part of the focus of the Ready campaign. One new resource is the Disaster Preparedness Guide for Older Adults, which instructs individuals and caregivers through a self-assessment to identify specific needs and checklists to create a personalized plan. The guide has been downloaded more than 6,000 times since its publication.