Ahead of Tenth Anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, Governor Hochul Announces New Office of Resilient Homes and Communities to Protect New Yorkers From Climate Change
The Governor also released a 10-year anniversary report detailing GOSR's progress to-date on the Superstorm Sandy recovery effort. Overall, under GOSR's direction, the state has spent 91 percent of its $4.5 billion allocation through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program completed more than 11,000 housing recovery and resiliency projects, and provided support to more than 1,000 small businesses across New York. The state has also invested $19 billion in the electric grid statewide to protect New Yorkers from extreme weather power outages, including $4.9 billion invested on Long Island, over the past ten years.
Governor Hochul first committed to establishing a permanent resiliency entity in her State of the State address. The new Office of Resilient Homes and Communities will build on GOSR's work and fulfill the Governor's commitment to supporting New York families still impacted by Superstorm Sandy by:
Working directly with New Yorkers and communities before and after disasters,leveraging scalable and effective program models that assisted homeowners to complete more than 11,000 repair and flood mitigation projects, including more than 3,000 home elevations.
Effectuating seamless transition from immediate response to long-term recovery, to future resiliency by incorporating long-term planning into the recovery process.
Advancing equity for New Yorkers vulnerable to disasters by emphasizing the disadvantaged communities criteria identified by New York's Climate Justice Working Group to guide the equitable implementation of the State's ambitious Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
Office of Resilient Homes and Communities Executive Director Katie Brennan said, "The next extreme weather event is a matter of when, not if. We are excited to permanently continue our recovery and resiliency work and building on our accomplishments. We will strengthen our ability to work with New Yorkers before, during, and after extreme weather events while also prioritizing equity and direct feedback from those in vulnerable communities. Thank you to Governor Hochul for your forward-thinking vision of community resiliency.