My @urbaninstitute.bsky.social colleague @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social spoke to @npr.org's Marketplace about the importance - and fate - of hazard mitigation funding: www.marketplace.org/story/2025/0...

Research @urbaninstitute.bsky.social shows that federal government's sweep of homelessness in DC & other cities is a fool's errand. Criminalization & forced relocation: —Are an ineffective deterrent —Disrupt resources access —Prolong homelessness —Cost a lot of $ What solves homelessness? Housing.

📢JOB ALERT 📢My department at the @ausis.bsky.social is hiring a social scientist who works on disaster!! The specific focus is open so check out the job announcement below (I'm not one the committee, so this is ALL I know) #ComeWorkwithMe! american.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/AU/job/Main-...

🚨New data-rich resource from our team at @urbaninstitute.bsky.social looks at the last 20 years of disasters and recovery across the Gulf Coast - from impacts, recovery $$, mitigation to future projected losses from climate change. www.urban.org/stories/disa...

Excited to share this new piece from @urbaninstitute.bsky.social @wcurrangroome.bsky.social @andrewrumbach.bsky.social @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social and team that gives an excellent data-driven overview of the last 20 years of natural disasters and federal spending in Gulf Coast states. Lots of 📊!

So often research in our field tells us how the policy *did* but not how it came to be. Super excited to dig into to the findings from my colleagues @yonahfreemark.com, Annie Rosenow, and Lydia Lo. Similar research in the hazard mitigation/climate resilience space desperately needed.

Whether we call it 'reforming' or 'eliminating' FEMA, the Trump Administration intends to shrink the role of the federal government in disaster management. Do states have the fiscal capacity to take on additional responsibilities? New analysis and state-by-state data: www.urban.org/urban-wire/t...

#2 The administration hasn’t approved a single request for Hazard Mitigation since 2/17/25. 31 requests are either denied or pending.

🧵👇

Good news stories can feel few and far between, so it was pleasure to the amplify the message and share the evidence that social housing is a climate solution via @npr.org's @juliaradio.bsky.social Climate Solutions Week Sunday Story about Vienna's Green Social Housing. www.npr.org/2025/06/15/n...

Updated all-time costliest National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) events on record. Note: Helene now sits at #4 ($6.18B), though nearly all of those payouts have come in Florida ($5.8B). North Carolina only at ~$0.2B. Most Americans living inland from the coast have no flood insurance coverage.

Many close watchers of FEMA do think the agency needs a dramatic shake-up and that states should be responsible for more of the financial burden of catastrophe. This, however, is not what they meant. Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

this week's newsletter is out. it's all about trump's spending bill and how cuts to healthcare threaten the health of Americans as climate disasters make us sicker www.possibilities.news/trump-spendi...

This story illustrates post-fire moves with recent change of address data, but also relies heavily on first hand accounts from renters and homeowners alike. Appreciate the deep dive on the very human-angle of navigating loss and new beginnings

Great reporting from HEATED on Hawaii's first-in-the-nation "green fee" on tourists to help fund climate resiliency efforts heated.world/p/the-realit...

News — David Richardson, Assistant Secretary for the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, has been named the new Senior Official at FEMA.

A major loss to our understanding of how extreme weather events are affecting us. There are 3 alternative databases I will be using: Gallagher Re: www.ajg.com/gallagherre/... Aon: img.clients.aonunited.com/Web/Aon5/%7B... EM-DAT: www.emdat.be

As FEMA reforms roll out from the administration at a rapid speed, Congress has a different vision for the agency as laid out in the discussion draft bill by Graves, Larsen transportation.house.gov/uploadedfile...

There’s so much happening right now, I thought I’d put together a running thread on the dismantling of #climate and research and knowledge infrastructure in the United States 🧵

Huge & exciting progress in Chicago, where a new public social housing agency will use a low-cost revolving loan fund to support green, mixed-income housing throughout the city.

I was losing track of all the changes to FEMA, and decided to write them down. Hope it is useful, and please let me know what I've missed! open.substack.com/pub/andrewru...

SCOOP: FEMA workers will stop knocking on doors to provide aid to survivors in disaster areas, per a memo obtained by WIRED. This comes as the agency is shifting responsibility for recovery efforts to local authorities. Oh, and it's hurricane preparedness week, btw.

Wash > rinse > repeat

Curious how your state could be impacted by FEMA changing the threshold for federal disaster declarations? We provide a state-by-state analysis, based on disaster data spanning 17 years and multiple administrations: www.urban.org/urban-wire/p...

Trump Admin has released its proposed budget for FY 2026. The cuts proposed to housing would be brutal, eliminating: —$26.7 b for affordable housing assistance —All community development block grants and the HOME program ($4.55 b) —The PRO Housing program ($100 m) www.whitehouse.gov/omb/informat...

With big changes proposed to reduce federal role in disaster recovery, our team crunched the numbers from past disasters to see what these changes could mean for federal disaster spending, recovery, and state and local government budgets. Analysis here w/ state data: www.urban.org/urban-wire/p... 🧵

There's a substantial chance 2025 could be an unthinkably expensive disaster year in the US, says Swiss Re. But we keep building more expensive sandcastles along the beach, because developers vehemently oppose changes in how and where we build - new post today: open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...

Must read from @ruthygourevitch.bsky.social in @shelterforce.bsky.social on the impact of climate-fueled disasters on renters and how tenant unions can help push towards more equitable recovery and safer/more resilient housing shelterforce.org/2025/04/04/t...

Millions of Americans don’t speak English. Now they won’t be warned before weather disasters. | grist.org/equity/natio...

A government-backed green building rating system is for the first time ordering project developers to consider climate impacts. The move follows an E&E News investigation that found hundreds of new LEED-certified buildings are at risk of flooding. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

Spoke too soon, some more details unfolding in a new memo from acting FEMA administrator Cameron Hamilton as reported by CNN, focused on raising damage threshold to unprecedented levels: amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/04/...

Begs the question what will determine whether post-disaster requests for FEMA supported are granted in the coming months? www.forbes.com/sites/alexan...

Kids are anxious about the climate, don't trust their government to help, and increasingly don't want to have kids of their own. There's a simple solution, and it's the opposite of what Trump is doing Gift link to my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

As bleak as this series is on struggling small water + sewer systems, I'm afraid its accurate on the state of play in most parts of the U.S. If we actually want safe, reliable and affordable water and sanitation for all, we need transformation in both governance and finance.

Great data analysis here, which shows how GOP-led states have reaped great benefits from the disaster risk reduction programs that the Trump regime is eliminating.

Warning, rare personal post ... but WTF is going on with drivers in DC. Today, I was almost hit by a car backing up into a crosswalk after blocking an intersection... all while I was walking my partner home from a physical therapy appointment to recover from being hit by a car last month.🫠

I’m re-releasing a popular pod with Madison Condon, where we explored the expanding world of #climate modeling. But now, the landscape has shifted. The federal government is gutting the public data infrastructure we all rely on. So I brought Madison back for a quick follow-up. #climatechange

For a little self-care today, getting lost under the sun in another chapter of @ayanaeliza.bsky.social's must-read "What if we get it right?"

This 🌍 Earth Day 🌍 I'm thinking about how changes within the housing sector can advance better outcomes for people, planet and communities to both mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The headwinds are challenging (to say the least) but....

What does FEMA’s retreat from hazard mitigation programs mean for states and communities? @wcurrangroome.bsky.social, @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social and I break down the impacts of the administration’s decisions, by state and congressional district: www.urban.org/urban-wire/f...

🧵Twelve conceptual 'problems' that make dealing with climate change super difficult:

Important coverage from @kristoncapps.bsky.social and Sarah Holder @bloomberg.com about what's at risk if HUD's GRRP program goes away (declared a target by DOGE): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

California's insurer of last resort, the FAIR Plan, is hurtling toward another hot, dry summer with its coffers already strained. That raises the prospect that homeowners will have to pick up the bill for more funds. My latest on the climate and insurance crisis: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New OP-ED on opportunities for FEMA reform from former Rep and Dem FEMA Administrator: www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025...

The Floor schedule for next week just announced by House Republican leadership does not include Senate-passed legislation to restore $1.1B in funding stripped out of the D.C. budget in last week's C.R.

The Trump administration is pushing states to take over disaster response and preparation. Many say it wouldn't be possible without FEMA. www.npr.org/2025/03/21/n...

➕ it’s a tremendous joy to live in this type of housing ….now let’s get better on the affordable, too

Sharing reactions from my colleague @andrewrumbach.bsky.social as well (pls ignore us both choosing to 'unpack')