Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program FY 2023 Subapplication and Selection Status

Selections Summary

Key HIghlights

30 Years of Flood Mitigation Assistance

Subapplication Status

In this grant cycle, FEMA received the highest number of subapplications—424—and the most federal cost share requested—over $2.35 billion—since the creation of the grant program in 1994.

As Sept. 23, 2024, marks the 30-year anniversary of the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program, FEMA announced the selection of 197 supplications totaling a record of nearly $715 million in available federal cost share for this grant cycle.

FEMA saw unprecedented requests for funding in this grant cycle, resulting in a program record amount of federal cost share selected for further review.

• Localized Flood Risk Reduction Projects: FEMA received 138 subapplications, nearly three times the amount in the previous fiscal year. 
• Capability and Capacity Building Activities: FEMA received 108 subapplications requesting over $48.71 million in federal cost share for capability and capacity building activities. This is a 79% increase in requests for this project type this year.

For these eligible projects and activities, these are the most subapplications and federal cost share selected in the program’s history.

This table summarizes the funded project types, the number of subapplications and an estimated total of federal cost share.

Uses of Flood Mitigation Assistance	Number of Subapplications Selected	Total Amount of Federal Cost Share
Localized Flood Risk Reduction Projects	35*	$478,065,335*
Individual Property Mitigation Projects	101	$208,224,594
Management Costs	23	$67,770,207
Capability and Capacity Building Activities	57*	$28,389,342*
Technical Assistance	4	$190,000
Totals	220	$782,639,478*

*Indicates a record high in a single grant cycle for Flood Mitigation Assistance.

This grant cycle’s selections highlight agencywide efforts that aim to reduce the barriers to access hazard mitigation assistance funding and expand geographic distributions in selections. 

This fiscal year saw a significant rise in Justice40 community participation in the Flood Mitigation Assistance program. In fiscal year 2021, 16% of the total federal share benefited Justice 40 communities. This year, the total increased to 51%. This growth reflects the program's commitment to advancing equity and resilience in underserved communities.

Project examples include the following communities.

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas (UG) is advancing its floodplain management program and improving its Community Rating System status. This project will address the unique needs of vulnerable populations and promote fairness in disaster preparedness and recovery.

This is a voluntary program for communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program. The goal is to achieve a CRS Class 5 and eventually Class 4, leading to lower flood insurance premiums for residents. Key objectives include reducing disruptions after disasters, improving emergency response, strengthening critical infrastructure, and promoting inclusion and equity in disaster response. By mitigating flood risks, the UG aims to avoid financial and personal losses, boost property values, and create new economic opportunities for the community.

The town of Belhaven will reduce flooding in communities vulnerable to wind-driven tides and severe weather by installing pumps and an automated tidal gate along Wynne’s Gut.

The system aims to provide flood relief up to an elevation of +2.5 feet NAVD88, helping to reduce repetitive property losses and NFIP claims from 10- to 25-year storms. The tidal gate will prevent tidal water from entering, while the pump station will discharge rainfall runoff, ensuring a quicker recovery for essential community lifelines. This design, based on successful solutions in nearby areas, will enhance the town’s flood resilience by preemptively managing water levels before storm events.

Jefferson County will address severe flooding in three vulnerable areas serviced by storm sewers, ditches, channels, and detention basins in the project area. The solution includes installing larger reinforced concrete box culverts (RCBs) and reinforced concrete pipes (RCPs) to improve stormwater conveyance and drainage to the Neches River. Additionally, bridge and culvert upgrades will enhance flow capacity. These improvements will reduce flood depth by 0.5 to 2.2 feet, increase conveyance capacity, and lower the flood risk for 23% of the inundated area.

This fiscal year saw a marked improvement in geographic distribution within the grant selections, with over 60 new subapplicants selected for further review. This expansion underscores FEMA's commitment to increasing access and ensuring that communities across the nation benefit from hazard mitigation resources.

Project examples include the following communities.

The Black Canyon Dam, built in 1964, is now considered unsafe due to changes in flood risk estimates. A recent study revealed that the potential maximum precipitation for the area is 60% higher than originally thought, increasing the risk of the dam overtopping during storms.

This project will allow the Arizona Department of Game and Fish develop alternative designs to address these safety risks. Once a solution is selected and implemented, the dam's safety will be improved, benefiting nearly 200 structures downstream and reducing flood risks for National Flood Insurance Program policyholders.

The city of Moab will mitigate flood risks by improving two detention basins, White Canyon and Johnson Canyon, both of which pose significant flood risks in the area. White Canyon, a high-hazard basin, has a vulnerable earthen spillway and no dedicated access road, making it difficult for maintenance crews to respond during extreme events. This project will design a reinforced spillway and access road to reduce failure risk and protect downstream properties.

Johnson Canyon, a moderate-hazard basin, floods nearby properties during even minor rainfall events. The project will design an improved spillway to direct water to the city right-of-way, reducing flood impacts on adjacent properties and enhancing overall community safety. The scoping will result in 100% design plans and set up the city for future flood risk reduction projects.

This project will develop a framework for long-term Flood Mitigation Assistance projects through the development of the state’s strategic flood mitigation plan. The plan aims to identify and profile flood hazards, analyze vulnerabilities, and implement capability assessment to address at-risk communities. It will focus on repetitive loss structures and aligns strategic mitigation actions with future grant funding opportunities. A key goal of the plan is to link grant funding to flood hazards identified in the State Hazard Mitigation Plan. The plan creation process includes setting goals, assessing existing mitigation actions, analyzing data, identifying new actions and prioritizing grant submissions.

Since its creation on Sept. 23, 1994, FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program has grown significantly. Over the past three decades, the program has evolved from modest beginnings into a vital source of funding for flood mitigation efforts across the nation.

Each year, FEMA has made selections to address repetitive flood loss. The last two fiscal years have marked a turning point in the program’s history as record-high levels of funding has been made available for state, local and territorial governments and Tribal Nations.

Since fiscal year 2022, the total funding available through the program’s annual grant cycle and the Swift Current funding opportunities exceeds the amounts announced in the previous fiscal years combined.  

In the last two fiscal years, the total funding available through the program’s annual grant cycle and the Swift Current funding opportunities exceeds the amounts announced in the previous fiscal years combined.  

In this same time period, funding requested is almost equal to the previous fiscal years since the program’s inception.

Since 1994, approximately $2 billion has been obligated by FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program to address the nation’s costliest annual disaster.

As the program continues to expand, it remains a critical tool in safeguarding lives, homes, and infrastructure across the country.

This surge in requests for Flood Mitigation Assistance funding reflects the growing importance of proactive flood mitigation as communities face increased risks from climate change.

As of Sept. 23, 2024, the table shows the subapplication status by state for the fiscal year 2023 Flood Mitigation Assistance funding opportunity.

Note: Amount identified for further review is subject to change due to eligibility during the pre-award process.

Learn about the definition of each status description:

• Identified for Further Review
• Not Selected
• Does Not Meet HMA Requirements

The table below shows selection status for subapplications submitted to the FY 2023 Flood Mitigation Assistance funding cycle. Data on this table are not regularly updated and are subject to change after the subapplications selections announcement.

Note: The sum of individual federal cost share may not equal totals due to rounding. More detailed data is updated regularly and can be found in the OpenFEMA Dataset.

Tip: to find information about a specific subapplication, search by the data field 'subapplicationIdentifier' which aligns with the ‘SubgrantID’ column the table below.