WASHINGTON, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — Typhoon Soudelor did millions of dollars in damage to schools, electricity, and other public infrastructure in the Northern Mariana Islands, but federal funds are paying for 90 percent of the cost of recovery.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency obligated $10,248,574 as the 90 percent share of $11,387,305 that the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation had to spend to repair or replace power poles and electrical lines after the storm. The funding goes directly to the Commonwealth government, which is then responsible for handing the money over to CUC.
This Public Assistance grant is authorized by the Section 406 of the Robert T. Stafford Act and the Presidential disaster declaration of August 6, 2015.
$17,295,909 has been obligated in total so far, and more Public Assistance funding is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, as accounting for expenditures resulting from the storm continues.
In addition to the money for repair of public infrastructure, $25,011,839 in federal funding was awarded directly to 4,858 households in the Marianas to help with Soudelor recovery. And the Small Business Administration has provided some $11 million in low interest disaster loans to Saipan businesses and more than $13.3 million to individuals.
