Residents of San Juan, Puerto Rico, deal with damages to their homes on September 20, 2017, after Hurricane Maria battered the island. | AFP/Getty Images

HUD says ?local ?governance and financial management challenges?? means funds won?t be released yet As part of the federal government?s new disaster mitigation program, $6.75 billion was awarded to states across the country on August 23, including Texas, Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, California, Missouri, and Georgia, to help them prepare for future hurricanes and natural disasters.
But, in a disappointment to advocates for Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, both regions have been left out of this recent round of funding, despite never fully recovering from recent storms, and despite Congress having long since appropriated funds for both territories. Puerto Rico was initially supposed to receive more than $8 billion, money that would have, in part, helped rebuild and strengthen the island?s power grid. Sources tell Curbed HUD has no timeline to determine when both territories will be ready to receive the funds or when they might be sent. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the program, said in a statement that the money was withheld because the territories are unable to properly manage or use it. A statement that accompanied the funding release notes that HUD ?acknowledges the governance and financial management challenges of the Commo...