Non-Financial Direct Technical Assistance can provide holistic hazard mitigation planning and project support at the earliest stages to communities requesting assistance. In Fiscal Year 2021, FEMA is offering non-financial Direct Technical Assistance to communities, tribes and territories. This helps communities to reduce disaster damage, build community resilience, and sustain successful mitigation programs.
During the process, FEMA will engage with each community to further explore and better understand their specific requests for technical assistance. FEMA will provide support to requesting communities for up to 36 months.
For additional information about the non-financial Direct Technical Assistance listed below, please contact the FEMA Regional Office.
FY21 Direct Technical Assistance Communities
FEMA Region 1
FEMA Region 2
FEMA Region 3
FEMA Region 4
FEMA Region 5
FEMA Region 6
FEMA Region 7
FEMA Region 8
FEMA Region 9
FEMA Region 10
Communities are from across the United States. Summaries of types of assistance requested are provided below.
FEMA Region 1
Town of Tremont, Maine
The town of Tremont is a small community located on Mt. Desert Island on the coast of Maine. The town is requesting help to identify potential projects to help address sea level rise on the island.
City of Woonsocket, Rhode Island
The city of Woonsocket is a small community just south of the Massachusetts state border in Rhode Island. The city is situated on the Blackstone River where it is joined by two smaller rivers, the Mill and the Peter. The city is requesting help and assistance to address inland flooding caused by the aforementioned rivers through project scoping, which will aim to protect the lives, property, critical facilities and infrastructure, and resources of Woonsocket.
FEMA Region 2
City of Jamestown, New York
The city of Jamestown is the largest community in Chautauqua County with a population of approximately 30,000 residents; it is situated between Lake Erie and Allegheny National Forest. The city’s aging infrastructure is suffering higher incidents of failure due to flooding, high wind events, changing trends in temperature and severe weather. The city is requesting help and assistance to develop a holistic and equitable Climate Action Plan and project scoping to address flooding in the community.
Borough of Oceanport, New Jersey
The borough of Oceanport is a small municipality with a population of 6,150, per the 2020 census, with an area of 3.18 square miles. The borough is requesting help and assistance to conduct specific hazard mitigation activities to mitigate future storm surges.
Municipality of Canóvanas, Puerto Rico
The communities of San Isidro comprise various informal settlements built by low-income families after Hurricane Hugo. These communities largely lack basic infrastructure and are partially located within the Norberto and San Isidro channels of an alluvial valley with wetlands. The municipality is requesting help to identify viable mitigation measures to protect this flood prone community.
FEMA Region 3
City of Crisfield, Maryland
The city of Crisfield is a small community located on the Tangier Sound, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. The city is requesting help and assistance to address coastal flooding and storm surge challenges.
City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The city of Philadelphia is located on the Delaware River on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The Eastwick neighborhood is the city’s lowest lying neighborhood and experiences a high flood risk. The city is requesting help and assistance to address the flooding hazards caused by sea level rise in Eastwick.
FEMA Region 4
City of Birmingham, Alabama
The city of Birmingham is located in the north central region of Alabama, north of Montgomery, the state capital. The city is requesting help with grants management assistance and project scoping activities to support the city’s drainage systems resiliency improvement projects.
Robertson County, Kentucky
Robertson County is a rural, sparsely populated county in northern Kentucky. The county is susceptible to landslides and is requesting help to assist with conducting project scoping activities to address these challenges.
FEMA Region 5
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community is a federally recognized tribal government located on the L’Anse Bay and is located on the L’Anse Reservation, the oldest and largest reservation in Michigan. The community is requesting help and assistance with developing an improved risk assessment and green infrastructure design criteria that meet multiple goals for hazard mitigation, cultural preservation, and protection of critical infrastructure and ecosystems.
Red Lake Nation, Minnesota
The Red Lake Nation is a federally recognized tribal government located on the southern side of the Lower Red Lake in northern Minnesota. The nation is requesting help with grants management training to develop projects needed after the town of Red Lake was hit by two EF1 tornados in 2021.
FEMA Region 6
Crawford County, Arkansas
Crawford County is located in rural western Arkansas and has a total area of 604 square miles. The southern border of the county is the Arkansas River, which poses a high flood risk to the County. The county is requesting help to assist with identifying sustainable, cost effective, nature-based solutions to protect against future flooding, as well as match the identified mitigation solution with appropriate funding mechanisms.
St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana
St. John the Baptist is located on the Mississippi River approximately 130 miles upriver from the Gulf of Mexico. St. John the Baptist is bisected by the Mississippi River; much of the parish is either open water or wetland. The parish is requesting help and assistance with project prioritization to address the significant flood risk the parish faces, both now and for the future.
FEMA Region 7
City of Cherokee, Iowa
The city of Cherokee is a small city situated on the Little Sioux River in northwestern Iowa. The city is requesting help to implement nature-based solutions and develop a local mitigation partnership network.
City of Riverton, Iowa
The city of Riverton is a small community located along the East Nishnabotna River in southwest Iowa. The city is requesting help to conceptualize projects to mitigate frequent flooding across a main route into Riverton used by general traffic and emergency services.
FEMA Region 8
Chippewa Cree Tribe, Montana
The federally recognized Chippewa Cree Tribe is located on the Rocky Boy’s Reservation in north-central Montana near the Canadian border. The tribe is requesting help to conceptualize a solar array project to connect to a micro-grid which will supply power to multiple Tribal buildings.
FEMA Region 9
City of Modesto, California
The city of Modesto is located east of San Francisco and San Jose and is situated on the Tuolumne River. The city is requesting help and assistance to perform benefit-cost analyses to address mitigation projects related to the Tuolumne River floodway.
Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians, California
The Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians is a federal recognized tribe operating in the Pauma Valley of California. The tribe is requesting help to update the Tribe Hazard Mitigation Plan, assess mitigation and risk reduction needs, and develop an economic resilience planning process.
FEMA Region 10
Native Village of Ouzinkie, Alaska
The Native Village of Ouzinkie is a federally recognized tribe situated on Spruce Island and is only accessible by air or water. The tribe is requesting help and assistance to conceptualize a tsunami shelter project.
Town of Butte Falls, Oregon
The town of Butte Falls is a small community located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. The town is requesting help and assistance to conceptualize projects intended to improve water and wastewater resilience as well as develop capacity for building planning.