ODR Pushes to Meet 2035 FEMA Deadline as Labor Shortages, Costs Threaten Progress

Eight years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands are ramping up the recovery effort.

That’s because a lower-cost share agreement, brokered between the local government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in February 2024, states that all fixed-cost projects must be completed by 2035, 10 years from now. Under the current cost-share arrangement, the territory only has to offer two percent in matching funds for 428 fixed-cap projects, and five percent for other disaster recovery projects — down from 10 percent in both instances.

Failure to meet the 2035 timeline will result in a reversion to a 10 percent cost share for both classes of projects, a bill that the government will undoubtedly find difficult to grapple with. The Rebuild USVI initiative, with its project bundles and Super Project Management Office (PMO), is the territory’s chosen strategy to attract competent contractors and expedite the recovery process. There has been some success in this regard, including local contractors entering joint ventures with stateside companies to secure the award of contract bundles.

Still, the Office of Disaster Recovery is acutely aware of the challenges that lie ahead. ODR director Adrienne Williams-Octalien appeared before the Committee on Disaster Recovery, Infrastructure, and Planning recently and outlined potential stumbling blocks. Among them are “rising construction costs, limited pool of project laborers and professional support staff, a lack of workforce housing, and supply chain issues,” she told lawmakers.