Press Release: Major Disaster Relief Priority for Appalachia Passes Congress as Part of Housing Bill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2026
Contact:
Trey Pollard - trey@pollardcommunications.com - 202-904-9187
21st Century ROAD to Housing Act includes Three-Year Authorization of Flexible Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Funds
APPALACHIA — A priority of the Appalachian Flood Resilience Coalition (AFRC) passed the U.S. House [358-32] as part of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, as vital Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding was authorized for three years. The legislation passed the Senate earlier this week, and now goes to President Trump’s desk for his signature. CDBG-DR grants help ensure relief gets to states, counties, Tribes and local governments in the aftermath of disasters to provide flexible resources that fill the gaps left by other disaster aid funding sources, such as FEMA.
“West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster welcomes the passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act and the associated Reforming Disaster Recovery Act (RDRA). Provisions within the Act – particularly the authorization of the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program – will make an enormous difference to the families and communities impacted by a disaster. Our thanks to both houses of Congress for their wisdom in passing this bill,” said Dave Lumsden, Immediate Past Chairman of the WV VOAD Board of Directors.
As a program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), CDBG-DR funds often go toward restoring and building new housing and assisting families with housing payments in low and moderate-income households in disaster-stricken areas. CDBG-DR grants fund longer-term rental assistance for disaster survivors, support for homeless individuals, new housing construction, home repair and replacement, job training and economic development, public facility and services construction, and hazard mitigation.
As the risk of flood devastation in many Appalachian communities is even greater than it was ten years ago, the AFRC called for a permanent reauthorization of CDBG-DR funding in its platform released last year. Permanent reauthorization would expedite the allocation of CDBG-DR funds, which now takes an average of over 300 days. Historically, funds have been appropriated through disaster supplemental packages. Authorizing the program in statute would create consistency and regularity in program guidance and create the impetus to fund the program annually such that communities do not have to wait for supplemental funding packages. The slow disbursement of federal funding after a disaster is a major obstacle disaster-stricken communities continue to face. For example, after the 2022 floods in Eastern Kentucky, HUD did not allocate CDBG-DR funding until eight months after the disaster. The three-year authorization passed this week is seen as a major step forward for supporting Appalachian communities in the aftermath of disaster that could have otherwise been left facing an even greater shortfall.
“Communities across Appalachia know all too well what it is like to face the devastating aftermath of a disaster, as bills pile up, people struggle to rebuild, and recovery seems out of reach. This legislation represents important progress in making sure those hit hardest by flooding and storms get the support they need, when they need it. At a time when bipartisan progress like this seems so rare, the Appalachian Flood Resilience Coalition applauds Congress on taking this step forward and urge them to build on this foundation in the months and years ahead by permanently authorizing the CDBG-DR program,” said Rebecca Shelton, Director of Policy for the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center and member of the AFRC steering committee.
“At a time when the climate crisis is fueling increasingly frequent and dangerous flooding across Appalachia, we need to give communities the resources they need to not only rebuild, but also be more resilient to future unnatural disasters,” said Jessica Arriens, senior program manager for climate and energy policy at the National Wildlife Federation and member of the AFRC steering committee. “The authorization of the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery program is a welcome step in that direction.”
The Appalachian Flood Resilience Coalition is an alliance of local, regional, and national nonprofits dedicated to research and issue-advocacy on federal policies that will create a more resilient Appalachian region. Following the devastating July 2022 floods that impacted eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia, an initial group began to coalesce around key areas of community concern: state & local government response to flooding disasters, the impacts flooding has on low-income communities, creating more accurate flood maps, and utilizing nature-based solutions.
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