Strengthening Accountability in Disaster Assistance

• Through a variety of programs that serve homeowners and renters, HUD helped to address the needs of households displaced by Hurricane Katrina and other recent natural catastrophes.


• Some have noted that HUD could play a greater role in future disasters by leveraging its relationships with local housing agencies and expertise in addressing long-term housing needs.


• In prior work, GAO has raised concerns about the adequacy of federal planning efforts for disasters, including unclear lines of authority and limited understanding of support agencies’ full capabilities.


• Efforts to define HUD’s role and capabilities and strengthen program administration will be important to ensuring the federal government’s timely and effective delivery of disaster relief in the future. 

^ Back to topWhat Needs to Be Done

• HUD should assist in the development of operational plans that provide details on how the agency will meet its temporary housing responsibilities and propose revisions as needed to ensure that the National Response Plan fully reflects its capabilities for providing temporary housing assistance.

  Highlights of GAO-07-88 (PDF)

^ Back to topKey Reports

Disaster Housing

Gulf Coast Disaster Recovery

Disaster Housing

More Reports