In the wake of Hurricane Helen, a devastating Category 4 storm that devastated the Southeast, leaders Rushing to restore homes, infrastructure And Power to millions Humans but in the overwhelming destruction and chaos and the already dead 160 is exceeded Across six states, one group is being overlooked at risk: the homeless population, who are already vulnerable before the storm.
Disaster relief for those who were homeless before a hurricane was always lacking, as FEMA, the main federal agency tasked with providing aid, has a policy of explicitly excludes Those homeless people from most forms of assistance, including housing and direct assistance. In recent years, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has attempted to plug some of these gaps in Social Security, but a The new bill is ongoing through Congress This effort is threatened.
Increasing frequency of major hurricanes and increasing numbers of homeless Americans have made these dynamics even more stressful began to grow. In June, the US Supreme Court issued a landmark decision Pass the grant v. JohnsonGreen-lighting local governments’ legal authority to clear homeless tent encampments, even if a city lacks any available housing or shelter for homeless people.
Since then, more jurisdictions have passed laws criminalizing homelessness, part of a larger effort to crack down on those sleeping rough. This week itself A new law In Florida – which prohibits sleeping on public property anywhere in the state – went into effect Although the law Exceptions included During an emergency like a major storm, those protections expire if the hurricane mandate is no longer in effect.
In practical terms, this means that when Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis or county officials lift Florida’s emergency hurricane orders, Floridians who were homeless before Helen — About 31,000 People – may face new criminal penalties. Local homeless advocates say there are countless questions and rumors swirling about how the new law will be interpreted and enforced in the wake of disasters like Helen, which made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region last week.
According to Martha Ray, executive director of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, most people experiencing homelessness were aware that the new anti-camping law was about to go into effect. “Some people are already trying to move their camps to harder-to-find areas,” he told me in mid-September, about a week before Helen hit Florida.
Leaders like Ar still have little idea what to expect, and he has heard informally that most jurisdictions are in wait-and-see mode, waiting to see which city gets the case first and what the judge who reviews the case decides. (Under the new Florida law, any citizen or business can file a lawsuit in January if they feel the anti-camping ban is not being properly enforced.)
“It’s going to be a challenge for how leaders actually implement these [anti-camping] Laws, like if I lost my home to a hurricane and I lived in that town for a decade, would I be found violating the law and would they arrest me?” asked Noah Patton, disaster recovery manager for the National Low Income Housing Coalition. These laws create significant complexity, really make it more difficult to deliver aid, and what I’m saying is that it makes a community less resilient to disaster.”
It’s hard to move homeless people to safety when a hurricane hits — and anti-camping laws make that harder
Trying to reach and reach the homeless during a hurricane is always a stressful task. “A lot of people have phones but they don’t have data, they can’t get texts,” said Kelly Young, CEO of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston and Harris County.
Typically, homeless outreach workers will try and go out to spread the word, and existing homeless shelters will work to build additional rooms, sometimes allowing people to sleep in areas like kitchens and hallways. Homeless people can usually find shelter in convention centers and public schools, or in newly constructed Red Cross emergency shelters. Some governments and non-profit organizations provide transportation for homeless people to move indoors, while others leave it up to individuals to determine their own travel.
“Later we had 13,000 people at the George R. Brown Convention Center [Hurricane] There was no difference between Harvey and the homeless versus people who just lost their homes and needed a place to stay,” said Larry Satterwhite, who leads the Houston Mayor’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security.
Not everyone experiencing homelessness gets the information they need, and not everyone living outside does Feel comfortable going to a sheltersaid Eric Camarillo, executive director of SALT Outreach, which works with unsheltered homeless people in Orlando and Central Florida. Some people fear losing their personal belongings, while others may have had traumatic prior experiences in shelters.
“Homelessness doesn’t look like it did 50 years ago,” Camarillo added. “It’s single moms who can’t afford daycare, it’s seniors in their 70s and 80s who are on fixed incomes who can’t afford their rent increases, and teens and young adults.”
New anti-camping laws are exacerbating an already tumultuous disaster response situation, as many homeless people living outdoors now try to be less visible to avoid jail time. Punitive laws are also expected to increase mistrust between local governments and homeless people, making it more difficult for people to receive help if they are available.
“In my opinion, these laws exist to push people away and out of sight, which makes our job harder,” said Eric Samuels, president of the Texas Homeless Network. (Texas passed its statewide camping ban in 2021.) “And if people are badly injured and they’re miles out of public view because they don’t want to be ticketed, emergency crews can’t get out to help. “
Disaster assistance faces an uncertain future for those already experiencing homelessness
FEMA has primary responsibility for providing disaster relief and works with states and local communities to manage emergency shelters, which is mostly managed by Red Cross FEMA prohibits housing assistance from going to people who were already homeless — “because the housing need was not caused by the disaster,” their policy says — although homeless people can qualify for temporary transportation, funeral, child care and medical assistance.
FEMA policy allows people who lived, prior to the disaster, in “non-traditional housing” such as “tents, certain types of shacks and lean-to structures” to apply for a few months of rental assistance. But to receive this FEMA money, applicants must provide verification of their pre-storm situation from “a credible or official source,” which makes accessing aid virtually impossible, according to Patton.
“People don’t apply,” he said. “This is an exceptionally burdensome and administratively difficult process.”
Recently, in light of this, and after years of advocacy by housing agencies, HUD has taken steps to establish Rapidly sheltered survivor housing (RUSH) program, using unspent funds from Another urgent grant program. RUSH’s mission is to help and first aid those who were homeless before a storm or other climate disaster was deployed In the wake of Hurricane Ian in 2022.
“We were very pleased to be able to launch the program because we see that people who are doubled up or experiencing homelessness during disasters often do not access FEMA funds or receive assistance from FEMA,” said HUD Principal Marion McFadden. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Planning and Development. “By providing funding specifically for these situations, we’re filling the gap.”
Another way HUD comes in is through it Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program (CDBG-DR), which is a highly flexible, long-term disaster assistance program that can be used to provide monthly rental assistance and build new affordable housing after FEMA leaves. But the program is not permanently authorized—meaning it depends on periodic appropriations from Congress, which are often delayed and inadequate. The Biden administration has called on Congress to make CDBG-DR permanent and to approve a bipartisan bill in Congress called for the same.
nevertheless A separate bill Efforts to roll back FEMA’s long-term disaster recovery work, currently moving through Congress, are something some low-income housing advocates believe will threaten those who are homeless before a hurricane.
“We are concerned that the bill, as written, could lead to the misuse of scarce federal recovery funds and prevent critically needed long-term recovery assistance from reaching low-income disaster survivors,” more than 35 national Written by Housing Advocacy Group A congressional letter last week
HUD’s McFadden said there is “a real role” for his agency to support communities after a disaster. “We give billions of dollars in grants every year and we understand the unique needs of low-income people and low-income housing,” he told Vox.
FEMA was noncommittal when I asked about the agency’s plans for homeless people during a disaster if Congress gave them new authority, or whether they would reconsider their position on helping the pre-disaster homeless.
“If additional or new authorities are passed by Congress and signed into law, FEMA will then develop the necessary guidelines to implement the new authorities,” an agency spokesman said. “FEMA will focus on supporting the recovery of communities to address the needs created by a disaster and will comply with the intent of Congress in authorizing any new authority.”
As climate change accelerates, communities across the United States face increasing threats not only from hurricanes but also from heat waves, floods and wildfires. lawyer Application has been made FEMA last year expanded its criteria for disaster assistance to include heat and smoke, emphasizing the need for more adaptive responses to these challenges. The country’s acute shortage of affordable housing exacerbates the struggles of both the newly displaced and the long-sheltered, and addressing these interrelated crises of climate resilience and housing stability has never been more urgent.
