In This Issue

• Spotlight: Congress Allocates $587 Million to EDA to Assist Communities Impacted by 2018-2019 Natural Disasters
• Success Story: EDA Invests in Recovery of University of Texas at Austin’s Marine Science Institute After Hurricane Harvey Damage
• Highlight: Universities of Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands Sign Historic Memorandum of Understanding to Promote Economic Resilience and Leverage Each Institution’s Capabilities

Spotlight: Congress Allocates $587 Million to EDA to Assist Communities Impacted by 2018-2019 Natural Disasters

In August, EDA announced that it published its Fiscal Year 2019 (FY2019) Disaster Supplemental Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), making $587 million available to eligible grantees in communities impacted by Presidentially declared natural disasters in 2018, and floods and tornadoes in 2019. This funding will support disaster recovery activities in areas receiving a major disaster designation as a result of Hurricanes Florence, Michael, and Lane, Typhoons Yutu and Mangkhut, wildfires, and other calendar year 2018 disasters, and floods and tornadoes in calendar year 2019.

This funding is in addition to the $587 million that Congress appropriated to EDA last year (FY 2018) to support local plans and activities to recover – and grow back stronger – following major disasters that occurred in calendar year 2017.

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Success Story: EDA Invests in Recovery of University of Texas at Austin’s Marine Science Institute After Hurricane Harvey Damage

Hurricane Harvey severely damaged Port Aransas, TX in August 2017.The city's largest employer, the University of Texas (UT) Marine Science Institute, sustained more than $45 million in damage.

On August 1, Deputy Assistant Secretary Dennis Alvord announced a $5 million EDA grant to UT-Austin to renovate the Marine Science Institute Campus and help establish the Center for Coastal Ocean Science. The grant is being matched with $1.25 million in local investment.

The project will help repair multiple buildings that were damaged by Hurricane Harvey and allow for the installation of a new seawater system to support the campus in the event of future severe weather.

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Highlight: Universities of Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands Sign Historic Memorandum of Understanding to Promote Economic Resilience and Leverage Each Institution’s Capabilities

On August 8, 2019, the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen recovery initiatives in the Caribbean Region after the devastating impacts of hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. The signing of this MOU is an example and a direct result of the commitment that EDA has with recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and will maximize available resources and efforts that can lead both islands toward essential workforce and economic development.

The event took place at the UPR Molecular Science and Research Building in San Juan. UPR President Dr. Jorge Haddock-Acevedo signed the MOU on behalf of UPR, and UVI President Dr. David Hall signed the MOU on behalf of UVI. The MOU will “enable the collaboration between the two institutions in furtherance of conducting joint and shared research in areas that are germane to the growth, development, resiliency, and sustainability of both institutions and surrounding communities.”

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