On Wednesday the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced an overhaul of the agency’s disaster recovery efforts to better serve communities that face the direct impacts of weather-related disasters.

Based on the increasing number of disasters and the increasingly important role that HUD is playing in the federal government’s preparedness, response, and recovery efforts, the Department is announcing the establishment of the Office of Disaster Management (ODM) in the Office of the Deputy Secretary, the Office of Disaster Recovery (ODR) within the Office of Community Planning and Development, the addition of dozens of new HUD staff members to help expedite recovery processes, and the allocation of more than $3.3 billion in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds.

These allocated funds will help communities in Alaska, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Puerto Rico recover from disasters and build resilience, with a specific focus on low-and moderate-income populations. The funds are specified to be used for disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, economic revitalization, and mitigation, in the most impacted and distressed areas.

A table included in the announcement shows that $7,498,000 has been allocated to Oklahoma, with $975,000 marked mitigation and $6,498,000 labeled unmet needs.

The press release states the steps the agency is taking will streamline their disaster recovery and resilience work by increasing coordination, reducing bureaucracy, and increasing capacity to get recovery funding to communities more quickly by facilitating collaborative, transparent disaster recovery planning with communities earlier in the process.

“HUD is committed to helping underserved communities in hard-hit areas recover from disasters,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “We know that far too often, not-so-privileged households bear the brunt of weather-related disasters. We will ensure they have access to the resources they need to rebuild and recover, equitably. Today’s announcement sends a strong message: equity is elemental to the disaster recovery work of HUD and the Biden-Harris Administration.”

The Department recently asked the public for feedback on how to simplify, modernize, and more equitably distribute critical disaster recovery funds. Given HUD’s increased role as the lead federal agency for housing recovery and impact of disasters on their portfolios, a pronounced need has emerged for enhanced coordination Department-wise, and well as with other federal, state, and local partners to assist impacted communities and families.

The increasing number of major disasters over the last two decades has impacted the nation and highlighted the importance of effective disaster management at the federal, state, and local levels of government. HUD plays a large role in preparing relocations of populations, addressing disaster-related housing needs, supporting FEMA without evacuation, sheltering HUD-assisted resident, developing interim housing solutions, and leading planning and supporting long-term, sustainable community recovery.