Governor Ron DeSantis announced today that Monroe County is receiving $21.1 million for Hurricane Irma recovery. This funding is awarded by the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) to reimburse the county for debris removal, emergency protective measures and damage to other facilities following Hurricane Irma’s landfall in Florida. The approval of this funding was accelerated by FDEM through new processes put in place in January.
“It’s incredibly important that we continue to provide as much support as we can to counties still recovering from Hurricane Irma,” said Governor DeSantis. “I’m proud to announce that more funding is going to Monroe County today and I’ll continue to use my full executive authority to provide this funding as quickly as possible.”
“We have made it clear that cities and counties waiting years to receive their hurricane recovery funding is unacceptable,” said FDEM Director Jared Moskowitz. “Today’s announcement is yet another example of the success of the new processes we’ve put in place to get this funding out as quickly as possible.”
In January, FDEM implemented new procedures to accelerate FEMA reimbursements to communities impacted by hurricanes Irma, Matthew and Hermine. Previously, the Division required projects to be 100-percent validated before any funding was awarded. Under the new process, half of the funds are awarded when a project is 50-percent validated, while the Division continues to work with applicants to provide funding as projects continue to be validated. This process is in addition to expedited payments for communities impacted by Hurricane Michael.
