2022 Flood CDBG Disaster Recovery

Overview

The Community Development Administration (CDA) is actively working to ensure St. Louisans, impacted by the historic flash flooding in the Summer of 2022, have equitable access to valuable resources and services to close the gap on unmet needs.

Note: this webpage will be updated atleast weekly with relevant CDBG-DR information.

Resources and Documents

• City of St. Louis CDBG-DR Action Plan FINAL
• 
• CDBG-DR slide decks
• Disaster Recovery Funding Community Survey and Info Sheet
• CDBG-DR Disaster Recovery Grants Optional Action Plan for Administrative Cost
• Flood Risk Map City of St Louis CDBG DR
  

On This Page

CDBG Disaster Recovery Action Plan Summary

The City of St. Louis’ CDBG-DR Action Plan explains how $25,834,000 in federal disaster recovery funding will be used to support long-term recovery from the severe storms and flooding of July 25–28, 2022. Administered by the Community Development Administration (CDA), the funding is intended to address needs that remained after other sources of assistance were exhausted. The plan focuses on helping the city recover from flood damage while also building greater resilience against future disasters.

The Action Plan is based on an impact and unmet needs assessment, public meetings, stakeholder engagement, and resident feedback. That process found more than $38 million in unmet need across housing, infrastructure, and economic revitalization, with housing making up the largest share. In response, the plan prioritizes housing recovery while also investing in infrastructure, planning, public services, and administration. It is designed to advance equity and direct resources toward vulnerable residents, low- and moderate-income households, and underserved communities across the city.

To address these needs, the City proposes four main recovery programs: a Home Repair Program, a Home Buyout Program, a Green Infrastructure Program, and a Flood Recovery and Mitigation Planning Program. Together, these efforts are meant to restore safe housing, relocate households from repeatedly threatened areas, reduce future flood risk, and strengthen citywide resilience. The plan also includes funding for administration, compliance, public engagement, reporting, and technical assistance to ensure the grant is carried out effectively and in line with HUD requirements.

CDBG Disaster Recovery Action Plan Unmet Need and Proposed Allocations Table

Accessibility

Persons with special needs or accommodations relating to accessibility or foreign language should contact cda@stlouis-mo.gov or by phone at (314) 657-3830 or (314) 589-6000 (TDD). Interpreting services are available upon request for persons with hearing disabilities. Interested parties should contact the Office on the Disabled at (314) 622-3686/voice or (314) 622-3693/TTY.

What is Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding? 

When the President declares a major disaster, Congress may appropriate funds to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when there are significant unmet needs for long-term recovery. HUD allocated $25,834,000 to the City of St. Louis to support long-term recovery in response to the flash flooding that impacted the St. Louis metropolitan area. 

• Funding of last resort: CDBG-DR funds are mostly used to address unmet needs tied to the disaster that other federal programs (like FEMA) haven’t been able to address. 
• Mitigation: Some CDBG-DR funds can help impacted communities become more resilient to current and future risks through Mitigation Set-Aside Funds. This funding does not require tie-back to the disaster event. Mitigation funding without tie-back is generally limited to 13% of the total grant amount. Similar to other HUD programs, stringent requirements apply when using CDBG-DR funding.

How can CDBG-DR funds be spent?

CDBG-DR funds must be spent on HUD-eligible activities related to housing, infrastructure/public facilities, economic revitalization, public services, planning, or administration. Most funding must be used to assist households with an income at or below 80% of the area median income.

What are HUD-eligible activities? 

• Repair, reconstruction, or construction of housing that addresses disaster impacts 
• Economic revitalization activities that assist impacted businesses, create jobs, or promote workforce development 
• Repair/replacement of disaster-impacted infrastructure or public facilities such as streets, water/sewer facilities, playgrounds, as well as flood/drainage measures 
• Planning activities that support comprehensive planning such as climate resiliency, community recovery, disaster preparedness or neighborhood planning 

CDBG-DR Action Plan

To receive CDBG-DR funds from HUD, we must complete a planning process that takes approximately six months. Throughout this process, we will be reviewing data and gathering insights from our residents and stakeholders to determine unmet needs and designing CDBG-DR eligible projects and activities that address those needs. The information gathered will be compiled into an Action Plan that is submitted to HUD for review and approval. The City is also developing an implementation plan that will outline how each project will be administered in compliance with federal regulations. Upon HUD’s approval of the Action and Implementation Plans, the City of St. Louis can begin to deploy CDBG-DR funds through the identified projects and activities.

How is input gathered on the planned use of CDBG-DR funds? 

Your voice is critical for our collective action plan. The City is currently collecting responses to our unmet needs survey. With this critical feedback from impacted communities, the City will draft the Unmet Needs Assessment and the Action Plan. The City will then advertise a draft Action Plan for a 30-day public comment period. Public meetings will also be held to gather input regarding the draft plan.

Information about those meetings and the draft plan will be published here.

Flood Risk Map City of St Louis CDBG DR

The 2022 Severe Storms and Flooding Event – Disaster Risk Reduction Areas were determined through a data-informed process of locating sites impacted by three or more major flood risk characteristics. Click the thumbnail below to learn more.

Estimated Timeline

How can individuals and families get assistance from CDBG-DR funding? 

The City of St. Louis is in the initial phases of action planning for the use of CDBG-DR funds. Information regarding programs that may be able to provide assistance to impacted people will be made available here as it becomes available. The majority of funds must be used to assist households that have an income at or below 80% of the area median income. HUD’s 2023 income limits below. 

FY 2023 HUD Income Limits at or Below 80% of the Area Median Income