HUD Approves First Phase of Maryland’s Plan to Help Somerset County Recover From Hurricane Sandy
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has approved the first stage of Maryland’s plan to help Somerset County residents recover from the effects of Superstorm Sandy. Learn more.
The first phase includes $3 million to help low- and moderate-income owner-occupants rehabilitate or replace their homes and $1 million to assist small businesses that have unmet recovery needs. The state’s full plan for allocating funds from HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery plan, when approved, will total $8.6 million.
“Maryland is very pleased that HUD has approved our Action Plan to assist those households and businesses impacted by Superstorm Sandy which hit the City of Crisfield especially hard,” Governor O’Malley said. ”We have been working very closely with local officials and residents in Somerset to ensure that these critical funds will be expended quickly to benefit those who need it most.”
Nearly 1,000 homes in the county were damaged and many households were temporarily displaced last fall when Hurricane Sandy swept through the area on its rampage up the Mid-Atlantic coast.
DHCD rental assistance helped nearly 200 families move to temporary housing in the months immediately following the storm and the agency began working closely with local officials to determine how best to use funding through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program. In general, those funds are intended for the restoration of housing as well as economic revitalization in disaster-impacted areas. The funds are to meet recovery needs that are not otherwise covered by other federal assistance, private insurance, or other sources.
Jane C. W. Vincent, a HUD regional director, said today’s approval allows the state to begin the long-term process of rebuilding damaged housing and restoring damaged public facilities and infrastructure.
To read DHCD’s disaster recovery plan, click here.
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