FEMA has approved more than $162.8 million in disaster recovery and hazard-mitigation funding for Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, covering everything from tornado-battered buildings in Oklahoma to a fried electrical grid in a Dallas suburb. The money, announced Thursday, splits into $160.4 million for Public Assistance projects and more than $2.3 million for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, funding work tied to disasters that struck across 2024 and into this year.
According to Fingerlakes1.com, FEMA administers the funding through state, local and tribal governments on a state-led, federally supported basis, with grants issued under the Stafford Act. Those grants typically require a minimum 25 percent non-federal cost share, with the federal government covering up to 75 percent of eligible project costs, according to the Federal Register.
Oklahoma Rebuilds After a Deadly Tornado and a Sprawling Wildfire
In Oklahoma, Sulphur will receive nearly $108,000 to repair or replace building components damaged by severe storms in 2024, per the same report. That funding addresses damage from an EF3 tornado that struck the town on April 27, 2024, killing one person, injuring 30, and causing more than $10 million in damages, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado damaged more than 75 commercial and municipal structures during a 32-tornado outbreak that swept across the state.
Craig County, Oklahoma, is set to receive $408,000 for a safe room tied to the Catesby Fire, a February 2024 wildfire that scorched over 90,000 acres in the western part of the state and required federal Fire Management Assistance Grant support, according to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. Oklahoma's 2024 wildfire season overall burned nearly 300,000 acres statewide and destroyed dozens of structures.
Garland's Grid Gets a Fix After Straight-Line Winds Tore Through Dallas County
Texas is receiving the largest single infrastructure repair grant in the release: more than $2.3 million for permanent repairs to Garland's electrical distribution system, damaged by severe storms in 2024. According to FEMA, the May 28, 2024 storms produced straight-line winds of 65 to 95 mph and generated more than 1,000 damage reports across the city, with Garland residents filing more than 80 percent of all damage reports logged in Dallas County that month, per the City of Garland.
Texas is also slated for more than $1.6 million to fund a Harris County Flood Control District study of the Cypress Springs and Ella stormwater detention basins and Tributary E116-00-00. Per Fingerlakes1.com, the study will identify possible projects to reduce flooding effects on residents and property. Harris County relies heavily on regional detention basins to absorb intense stormwater runoff, and the study is meant to lay groundwork for future construction funding rather than pay for it directly.
New Mexico Separates Routine Repairs From Its Massive Wildfire Settlement
New Mexico will receive more than $362,000 for headgate, embankment and culvert work on the Gallinas Canal Acequia, which was damaged by 2022 wildfires, flooding and mudflows. FEMA explicitly noted that this Stafford Act grant remains separate from the $5.45 billion Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act compensation program, a distinct congressional appropriation that had paid out over $3.51 billion across 24,500 claims through mid-2026, according to FEMA.
The Village of Ruidoso will also receive more than $478,000 for a high-water warning and alert system, intended to protect residents from severe flash flooding and monsoon runoff aggravated by nearby wildfire burn scars. Post-fire burn scars severely degrade soil absorption, leading to rapid water runoff during monsoon rainstorms, a risk the mitigation grant is designed to address before the next major storm hits Lincoln County.
Louisiana Plans Ahead While Cleaning Up From a Winter Storm
Louisiana is slated for $2.5 million to develop a comprehensive stormwater and drainage master plan for Lafourche Parish, an unincorporated parish that lacks local zoning laws. The plan will guide future growth and help the parish prioritize areas at highest flood risk, according to FEMA, and it builds on a coastal system that already relies on extensive pump stations and levee networks managed alongside regional levee districts.
Separately, Louisiana will receive more than $1 million for debris removal in West Monroe tied to a 2026 winter storm. Hazard-mitigation funding more broadly can support property acquisition, stronger building codes, elevations, drainage improvements, utility upgrades and other resilience measures, FEMA said.
A Snapshot of a Fiscal Year Winding Down
The four-state package is one of several multi-state FEMA disbursements Hoodline has tracked in recent days, including a $317 million Florida release and grants sent to Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska for storm recovery. As of last Monday, FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund held $232 million in unobligated commitments and $159 million in uncommitted allocations entering the final month of the federal fiscal year, according to a FEMA financial report — a reminder that these state-by-state announcements are drawing down a finite pool of money before the fiscal year closes.
