FEMA has approved more than $162.8 million in disaster recovery and hazard-mitigation funding for Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, covering everything from tornado-battered buildings in Oklahoma to a fried electrical grid in a Dallas suburb. The money, announced Thursday, splits into $160.4 million for Public Assistance projects and more than $2.3 million for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, funding work tied to disasters that struck across 2024 and into this year.
According to Fingerlakes1.com, FEMA administers the funding through state, local and tribal governments on a state-led, federally supported basis, with grants issued under the Stafford Act. Those grants typically require a minimum 25 percent non-federal cost share, with the federal government covering up to 75 percent of eligible project costs, according to the Federal Register.
Oklahoma Rebuilds After a Deadly Tornado and a Sprawling Wildfire
In Oklahoma, Sulphur will receive nearly $108,000 to repair or replace building components damaged by severe storms in 2024, per the same report. That funding addresses damage from an EF3 tornado that struck the town on April 27, 2024, killing one person, injuring 30, and causing more than $10 million in damages, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado damaged more than 75 commercial and municipal structures during a 32-tornado outbreak that swept across the state.
Craig County, Oklahoma, is set to receive $408,000 for a safe room tied to the Catesby Fire, a February 2024 wildfire that scorched over 90,000 acres in the western part of the state and required federal Fire Management Assistance Grant support, according to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. Oklahoma’s 2024 wildfire season overall burned nearly 300,000 acres statewide and destroyed dozens of structures.
Garland’s Grid Gets a Fix After Straight-Line Winds Tore Through Dallas County
Texas is receiving the largest single infrastructure repair grant in the release: more than $2.3 million for permanent repairs to Garland’s electrical distribution system, damaged by severe storms in 2024. According to FEMA, the May 28, 2024 storms produced straight-line winds of 65 to 95 mph and generated more than 1,000 damage reports across the city, with Garland residents filing more than 80 percent of all damage reports logged in Dallas County that month, per the City of Garland…