A lifelong nonmigratory of Louisiana, Wade Evans has learned a batch astir floods, including this: the h2o doesn't attraction astir your politics. The politician of Central — a assemblage of astir 30,000 extracurricular of Baton Rouge — Evans and his household were forced to evacuate their location by vessel successful 2016 erstwhile flooding from torrential rains destroyed 60% of the structures successful town.
"Flood h2o doesn't discriminate," said Evans, a Republican and protagonist of President Trump. '"Any idiosyncratic that flooded is shocked that it would beryllium considered to bash flood mitigation."
So erstwhile helium received connection successful April that FEMA was canceling a assistance programme that would supply astir $40 cardinal for a caller flood power strategy successful Central, helium was angry. In a property release, FEMA said the program, which provided backing for infrastructure projects successful storm-prone communities, was "wasteful" and had go "more acrophobic with governmental agendas than helping Americans retrieve from earthy disasters."
"To me, it's a superb concern decision," said Evans, who said the drainage task successful Central would person saved wealth successful the agelong tally by protecting houses that routinely prolong flood harm FEMA yet ends up covering. "And past they pulled the rug retired from nether us."
Evans and Central aren't alone. Amid the avalanche of cuts made successful the archetypal 5 months of the Trump administration, nary whitethorn person reddish authorities politicians much up successful arms than the cancellation of the infrastructure program, which is formally known arsenic Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities, oregon BRIC for short.
The $4.6 cardinal inaugural was launched nether the archetypal Trump administration, and a CBS News investigation of FEMA information revealed that two-thirds of the counties awarded grants voted for President Trump implicit erstwhile Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election.
Trump medication officials said they volition claw backmost astir $3.6 cardinal that has already been awarded but not yet spent, sending it backmost to the U.S. Treasury. Projects that are present stalled arsenic a effect scope from a program to elevate six buildings connected the main thoroughfare successful Pollocksville, North Carolina — colonisation little than 300 — to a $50 cardinal task to forestall flash flooding successful New York City.
"Under Secretary Noem's leadership, we are ending non-mission captious programs," a FEMA spokesperson said successful a connection to CBS News, penning that the BRIC programme was "wasteful and ineffective" and "more acrophobic with clime change" than providing assistance to Americans affected by storms.
"We are committed to ensuring that Americans successful situation tin get the assistance and resources they need," the spokesperson wrote.
The information suggests the elimination of the BRIC programme volition particularly deprive susceptible communities crossed the Southeast. In Florida, 18 of the 22 counties that stood to payment from astir $250 cardinal successful grants voted for Mr. Trump. Elsewhere successful North Carolina, grants were canceled successful areas ravaged by Hurricane Helene past year.
Spokespeople for the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, and FEMA did not remark connected the information findings.
The standard of the cuts successful ruby-red Louisiana — 34 grants totalling $185 cardinal — prompted the state's Republican elder senator, Bill Cassidy, to publically condemn the determination to cancel the program.
"We passed BRIC into instrumentality and provided funds for it," said Cassidy successful a code connected the Senate level successful April. "To bash thing different than usage that wealth to money flood mitigation projects is to thwart the volition of Congress."
Last month, Cassidy joined much than 80 members of Congress successful penning a missive to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, begging the medication to reinstate the programme and arguing that not doing truthful "will lone marque it harder and much costly for communities to retrieve from the adjacent storm."
In the letter, the bipartisan radical of lawmakers cited probe that showed each dollar invested successful catastrophe mitigation tin prevention up to $18 successful effect and betterment expenditures aft a tempest hits.
"It was a thousand-year flood"
In August 2016, it started raining successful Central and did not halt for days. It rained truthful much, the municipality recovered itself successful the halfway of the fourth-most costly flood lawsuit successful U.S. history. Twenty-four inches of rainfall fell implicit a 48-hour period. Floodwaters chopped disconnected each roadway entree and communications.
"Central is located successful a floodplain, truthful we're utilized to flooding, we're equipped to grip it, but this was thing different," said Evans. "It was a thousand-year flood."
Video from the lawsuit is staggering. Roads turned to waterways, forcing the full municipality to evacuate. President Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence toured the harm erstwhile the waters receded.
"They were truthful gracious," said Evans. "I was near with the content that they had our backs."
Evans took a occupation selling cabinets, not to marque money, helium said, but due to the fact that helium saw a need. In doing so, helium saw the dilatory gait of betterment firsthand, and his vexation motivated him to get into politics.
"Many radical didn't person flood insurance, and the despair successful their eyes is what got maine into politics," said Evans, who was elected to the metropolis assembly successful 2018 and past politician 4 years later. "I said somebody's gotta bash a amended job."
While successful office, Evans said helium has prioritized mitigation, gathering a caller modeling strategy that tin pass residents up of clip of a large flood event. Yet the accidental to supercharge Central's betterment — and ward disconnected the adjacent flood catastrophe — came with the FEMA infrastructure program. Evans enlisted the assistance of his GOP congressman to assistance unafraid a grant.
The $39 cardinal successful backing was awarded successful July 2024 and was going to beryllium utilized for 3 caller basins that could cod h2o when, not if, Central flooded again.
"Essentially, the halfway of our metropolis has a flood power problem," said Evans. "This is an country of repetitive flood losses."
Earlier this month, Evans traveled to Washington, D.C., wherever helium met with Louisiana lawmakers, including Rep. Steve Scalise and Sen. John Kennedy, to effort to get the grant's cancellation reversed. And portion helium said helium recovered a sympathetic audience, helium was told yet the determination indispensable travel from the White House.
"It's clip to enactment the weaponry distant and propulsion retired the scalpel," said Evans. "Don't stroke a programme up that's precise good. This is simply a precise bully program."
"We request that support"
Officials from 5 different cities crossed the Southeast told CBS News they were counting connected funds from the BRIC programme to debar a repetition of past tempest destruction, including Conway, South Carolina, portion of a region President Trump decisively won successful 2024.
After the metropolis experienced extended flooding harm from successive hurricanes successful 2015, 2016 and 2018, it took tiny steps to mitigate flooding by demolishing properties successful its astir flood-prone areas. A large measurement guardant came erstwhile Conway was awarded a $2.1 cardinal BRIC assistance successful 2021 to crook a caller greenspace into a stormwater retention facility.
"We've plucked each the low-hanging effect determination is for flood resilience," said City Administrator Adam Emrick, who added that Conway didn't person the fiscal capableness to instrumentality immoderate larger projects without national help. "The adjacent measurement is ever and has ever been bigger operation projects to marque america a better, much hardened infrastructure to flooding."
The task was divided up into 2 phases — an engineering and readying phase, and a operation phase. But erstwhile the Trump medication canceled the BRIC programme successful April, Conway had lone completed 75% of the archetypal phase, and they'd yet to interruption crushed connected the facility.
According to Emrick, the aboriginal of the installation is present successful flux, arsenic the metropolis hasn't identified a backup backing source. He said the metropolis plans to determination guardant and implicit the archetypal signifier without the national backing to guarantee the task is "shovel ready." That way, successful lawsuit thing changes with assistance funding, they'll beryllium acceptable to work.
Following its determination to cancel the BRIC program, FEMA said it would beryllium "reaching retired and coordinating" with applicants whose projects were already underway. Yet Conway hasn't received immoderate connection from the agency.
"We request that enactment from the national authorities to marque these projects hap truthful that our residents tin proceed to unrecorded successful neighborhoods, and they don't person to spot this summation of imaginable tempest h2o being successful their homes ever again," said June Wood, a spokesperson for the city.
The tiny municipality of Pollocksville — located successful a agrarian North Carolina region that went heavy for President Trump successful 2024 — is besides facing uncertainty pursuing the Trump administration's determination to cancel BRIC grants. FEMA had officially awarded the assemblage a $1 cardinal assistance successful June 2024 to elevate and flood-proof six commercialized properties on Main Street that had been damaged by Hurricane Florence successful 2018 and near vacant ever since.
The administration's determination to destruct BRIC came 4 days earlier Pollocksville officials were scheduled to motion a declaration with the operation institution they had hired for the work. FEMA had said projects similar Pollocksville's that had completed the procurement process and were acceptable to commencement operation could inactive person funding, but Pollocksville Mayor Jay Bender said the municipality is inactive waiting to perceive from the agency.
"All we're trying to bash is marque our municipality a amended spot to live, enactment and play, and it conscionable hurts erstwhile you've made plans and you're doing things the close mode and the wealth oregon the assistance stops," said Bender.
Michael Kaplan is an award-winning newsman and shaper for the CBS News investigative unit. He specializes successful securing scoops and crafting long-form tv investigations. His enactment has appeared connected "60 Minutes," CNN and successful The New York Times.
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