Grab your umbrellas...we're going on a rainy recap! (But there's some brighter news ahead.)

For the past few months, the MuniBlog has explored extreme weather such as hurricanes and floods, including Superstorm Sandy, and municipal infrastructure. Within these articles we discussed the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which Congress must periodically extend.

As a follow-up to critical Congressional action to address these national priorities, the House of Representatives last week approved a disaster package of slightly more than $19 billion, including an extension of the NFIP, through September 30, 2019. The Senate approved this package in May.

While the package must be signed by the President before becoming law, aid will fund disasters in both 2018 and 2019, including flooding in the Midwest. The aid package includes $2.4 billion for Community Development Block Grand - Disaster Recovery for housing; and infrastructure recovery as well as mitigation.