It's been just over two months since Hurricane Helen tore through the Gulf states like a runaway freight train, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake.
This includes my hometown of Valdosta, Georgia. It is the place I have called home all my life, and the community I have proudly served as Mayor and Pro Tem, City Council member, EMT, and now State Representative. My wife and I raised our four children there. Everyone here is a neighbor and a friend.
As I drive down the trash-strewn street, the same street where my children rode their bikes moments ago, I am stunned by the breadth and scope of the destruction. Homes and buildings built over generations were reduced to rubble. A natural beauty as old as time itself has now left deep and lasting scars. Meanwhile, neighbors and friends are scavenging through the wreckage, trying to salvage pieces of their shattered lives.
We all work together to do what we can. We are demolishing homes, delivering water and generators, and feeding people who have lost everything.
But this alone is not enough. Just put a Band-Aid on an amputated limb or a little ointment on a third-degree burn. Without critical disaster funding, families will be left homeless this holiday season with no guarantee of a full recovery.
And the people of Valdosta aren't the only ones facing seemingly insurmountable challenges in the wake of a national disaster. Communities across western Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida also had their lives upended during the 2024 hurricane season. Some communities have yet to receive promised assistance, including victims of Hurricane Idalia and the 2023 Maui wildfires. .
This is where Congress needs to step up. Without permanent federal funding, each storm season ends with new battles in Congress over long-term funding to rebuild affected communities.
Lawmakers continue to work toward raising disaster relief funds through continuing resolutions. However, we are encouraged by the bipartisan support shown on this issue, and both sides will come together to support communities whose homes and communities have been destroyed by storms and fires in 2023 and 2024. I strongly urge you to do so.
Now is the time for members of Congress to come together and agree on a budget that:
- Permanently authorizes and funds the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR). CDBG-DR funds are essential to fill gaps created by short-term Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance and inadequate insurance payments. Making this a permanent source of funding will provide faster support to future survivors.
- Beginning in January 2023, CDBG-DR funds will be allocated to disasters. Reaching families from the Hawaiian Islands to the mountains of North Carolina is critical.
- Fully funds FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund. FEMA needs resources to provide temporary housing, repair homes, and address immediate needs.
- Makes FEMA rule changes retroactive to all disasters starting in 2021. This will allow people affected by past disasters, such as Hurricane Ida in 2021, to benefit from improved and more accessible assistance.
Without permanent federal funding, there will always be new battles in Congress after each storm season, and those battles are based purely on politics, not people. The last authorization vote was in December 2022, meaning that communities affected by natural disasters after January 2023 have yet to receive CDBG-DR funding. This is unacceptable no matter how you look at it.
Despite the challenges, heartbreak, and challenges, I couldn't be more proud of my fellow Valdosta residents. Because their strength and resilience are a true testament to the American spirit. And I know that the scenes I see on the devastated streets every day are being repeated in similar disaster-ravaged communities across the country.
We're not asking for handouts, we're just asking for a show of hands. It's the holiday season, a time of optimism, hope, and faith, and Congress needs to restore all that and more by providing stability to families still struggling to recover from past disasters. It has the power to restore even more.
We urge lawmakers to fully fund FEMA, permanently authorize CDBG-DR to fund disasters in 2023 and 2024, and implement a comprehensive package that makes FEMA rule changes retroactive to 2021. Please urge us to work toward passing a comprehensive disaster recovery package.
This will go a long way in making the holiday season a little brighter for many families who are suffering greatly.
Georgia State Representative Dexter Sharper has represented Georgia's 177th District since 2013.
