SPRINGFIELD – The city will be among communities and states competing for a slice of $1 billion in new federal disaster aid as Springfield continues revitalization efforts following a tornado in 2011 while also seeking money to prepare for potential new natural disasters.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced the $1 billion National Disaster Resilience Competition.
Geraldine McCafferty, the city’s director of housing, said Springfield has received initial information about the program and will be submitting an application for funds. Springfield continues to recover following severe damage from a tornado that struck the region on June 1, 2011.
The new federal funds are being made available “to spur innovation and regional and multi-department collaboration” to prepare for future disasters, McCafferty said. In addition, the funds will help to “improve the quality of life for residents in areas that have been impacted by disasters,” she said.
Springfield received $21.8 million in federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds last year, along with $25 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster reimbursement funds.
In addition, the Massachusetts School Building Authority is reimbursing of full cost of replacing the tornado-damaged Elias Brookings Elementary School, estimated at $27.9 million, as well as renovations to the tornado-damaged Mary Dryden School, costing $15.1 million.
The $1 billion is also from HUD’s disaster recovery program and is available to communities that have been struck by natural disasters in recent years, a news release stated.
Forty-eight states are eligible to apply for the new funds due to disasters and vulnerability since 2011, as well as 17 communities that have received disaster recovery funds, including Springfield, according to HUD.
McCafferty took part in a conference call with HUD officials Wednesday to learn more about the program on behalf of the city.
The federal government is looking for communities to provide data showing that they meet “a threshold for most impacted and distressed, as well as having unmet recovery needs,” McCafferty said.
The city anticipates strong competition from states and communities across the nation, she said.
A Phase 1 application is due within 180 days, and those states and communities deemed to qualify will then submit a Phase 2 application.
The city must determine what projects would be appropriate for the available funds “in order to meet the requirements regarding future protection and resiliency as well as connection to the 2011 tornado,” McCafferty said.
In a prepared release, HUD Secretary Julian Castro said the grant funds will “help communities across the country cope with the reality of severe weather that is being made worse by climate change.”