The Guardian, 19 October: the last allocation of long-term federal rebuild money, CDBG-DR (HUD), was for Hurricane Milton, Florida, October 2024. Since then no disaster has received money on that programme. Officials, the paper writes, estimate more than $10bn for Los Angeles County and St Louis alone. An estimate of need, not a FEMA cheque sitting in a drawer and cancelled.

CDBG-DR is from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, after FEMA emergency aid runs out: homes, neighbourhoods. It has no standing fund. Congress votes the money disaster by disaster. The Bipartisan Policy Center, cited by the Guardian: survivors of the 2020 Puerto Rico earthquakes waited 655 days from the disaster declaration to an allocation. In July 2026 CDBG-DR was written into law for three years. Advocates hoped for a faster frame. New money, the Guardian writes, has not been appropriated.

Three 2025 disasters are waiting: an EF3 tornado in St Louis (May), flooding in Texas Hill Country, wildfires in Los Angeles. Demetrice Davis, north St Louis: insurance covered almost nothing; FEMA “backed you up for a little while”, did not get you back on track. Sylvie Andrews, Altadena, home lost: 21 months since the LA disaster was declared, still waiting. Their lines. Not a verdict on the whole administration.

Rebuild, the national survivors’ association, was in Washington last month. Andrews: in Congress there is resistance to pre-funding while a disaster is not certain. Ginny Goldman, co-founder: people from both parties. Not a vote. On 7 October FEMA released the last DCMP (case-management) instalment for the fires; Andrews: $6.6m, “a tiny win”. Judy Chu: money the agency had already approved and that they had demanded for weeks. That is not CDBG-DR. Chu, in September: Trump still has not delivered the long-term federal recovery funding Los Angeles communities need. Her line.

NPR, 15 October: LA fire survivors, delays on FEMA programmes. Another thread, the same wait. We have not written that the $10bn sits in a FEMA account and has been cut.

Milton, 2024. Since then, CDBG-DR with no new allocation. Estimated need, not a cheque handed over.

Image: Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, HUD headquarters, Washington, 21 June 2024, ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The building, not a cheque.

Sources consulted: LA fire survivors face another setback with FEMA program delays — NPR; US disaster survivors still await at least $10bn in federal aid: ‘It’s devastating’ — The Guardian.