Volusia County Approves Disaster Recovery Action Plan

The Volusia County Council recently approved a Disaster Recovery Action Plan to mitigate storm damage and flooding impacts that resulted from Hurricane Ian in September 2022. The plan was developed through the county’s Transform386 Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery entity, according to a media release.
After Hurricane Ian, Congress allocated $3 billion to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to assist affected regions. From this, Volusia County was earmarked $328.9 million. An in-depth unmet needs assessment highlighted a crucial demand for housing solutions. Thus, the Transform386 CDBG-DR Action Plan prioritizes housing, dedicating over 60% ($200 million) of the available funds to various housing initiatives:
Single-Family Housing: A budget of $145 million has been allocated for repairing, reconstructing, or replacing homes damaged by the hurricane.
Rental Housing Repair: $5 million will assist landlords in repairing storm-affected properties, stipulating they will rent to low-income tenants for the next 20 years.
Multi-family Housing: With a $50 million budget, this initiative aims to counter the housing shortages intensified by Hurricane Ian, focusing on constructing new affordable housing units.
Additionally, $93 million of the CDBG-DR funds has been allocated to fortify the local infrastructure and augment the community’s resilience in anticipation of potential future disasters, the release states. This funding complements the $48 million provided to the county and municipalities by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
Following approval by the County Council, the action plan will be sent to HUD for a final review. Once HUD’s endorsement is secured, a grant agreement will be provided to the county for final approval, according to the release.
In preparation for the influx of HUD funding, the county is preparing to open applications for impacted homeowners to assist with still-needed home repairs caused by the storm. Those who have already completed repairs will have the opportunity to apply for reimbursement for those associated costs. More specifics regarding this initiative will be released soon according to the county media release.
The Action Plan can be viewed at www.transform386.org.
