FEMA unfreezes $80M+ for Aberdeen-Hoquiam flood project

Published 3:00 pm Thursday, March 19, 2026

On Thursday, after nearly a year of pressure from U.S. Rep. Emily Randall (D, WA-06), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced it would relaunch the Building Resilient Communities and Infrastructure (BRIC) grant program.

The Trump administration illegally cancelled the program in April 2025, immediately freezing more than $80 million in allocated funding for the Aberdeen-Hoquiam Flood Protection Project.

“For almost a year, DHS [Department of Homeland Security] froze over $80 million in critical BRIC grant funding for the Aberdeen-Hoquiam Flood Protection Project. Meanwhile, our communities experienced devastating flooding and key infrastructure projects were put on standby,” Randall said. “My neighbors in Aberdeen and Hoquiam have waited long enough. Today, that funding is finally one step closer to reaching our communities. I’m grateful to have worked alongside local partners to secure these funds, and I won’t let up until the check clears.”

When the administration abruptly cancelled the program in April 2025, Randall immediately sent a letter to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem demanding answers. Randall sent another letter to Noem in January 2026 urging FEMA to release funding for the Aberdeen-Hoquiam Flood Protection Project.

Earlier this month, Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown and a multistate coalition secured a court order requiring the FEMA to take concrete steps to reverse the termination of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program (BRIC) and restore billions in funding to communities relying on the program. In December 2025, Judge Richard G. Sterns of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts ruled the Trump administration unlawfully ended the BRIC grant program. Judge Sterns issued FEMA a court order on March 6, 2026, giving FEMA two weeks to comply with his ruling and reinstate the funding.

“The cities of Hoquiam and Aberdeen are finally on the cusp of securing nearly $98 million in nationally competitive FEMA BRIC grants which we have pursued since 2020. This news is monumental and life changing,” said Brian Shay, city administrator of Hoquiam. “The Aberdeen-Hoquiam Flood Protection Project is critical to the future community and economic vitality of our cities and will provide much needed flood protection and flood insurance relief to our citizens.

“Hoquiam is prepared to bid construction of the North Shore Levee West project estimated at over $63 million as soon as a grant agreement is executed. The North Shore Levee project is also making tremendous progress and is slated for construction starting in 2027,” Shay said. “While the pause on the FEMA program this past year was stressful and agonizing, our cities persevered and pushed forward to advance design, permitting and right of way utilizing other federal, state and county funding secured for the projects during the past 13 months.

“We truly appreciate all of our local partners, the state and federal agencies who have supported this effort, which began back in 2015.”

Ruth Clemens, city administrator for Aberdeen, expressed her gratitude and cautious optimism.

“The cities of Aberdeen and Hoquiam are extremely hopeful about the news we have been hearing coming out of Washington, D.C. Our congressional delegates and state partners have been hard at work trying to secure this critical funding for our communities. This illustrates their commitment to protecting our communities, strengthening our infrastructure, and enhancing long-term resilience against flood risks. We are so grateful for the determined support from our legislators,” Clemens said. “This project has been the number one priority for our communities, and while we are not out of the woods yet, we can see an end in sight to this funding issue, and then the real work can begin. We are so grateful to Representative Emily Randall and her predecessor Derek Kilmer for their unyielding support.”

Local officials in Hoquiam and Aberdeen have been working on this crucial levee project for almost a decade. The Aberdeen-Hoquiam Flood Protection Project will help protect approximately 5,100 properties, and over 1,000 businesses, and critical infrastructure (including schools, the city hall, the police department, fire station, and Social Security office) in west Hoquiam in the event of extreme flooding.

Without the protection the proposed levees would provide, residents and businesses in the floodplain along the Wishkah, Hoquiam and Chehalis rivers are forced to pay high flood insurance rates and are subject to FEMA’s 50% rule, which dictates that if the cost of repairs for damage or improvements to a structure in a flood zone exceeds 50% of its pre-damage market value, it is deemed “substantially damaged” or “substantially improved.” Consequently, the structure must be elevated or brought up to current flood-resistant building codes.

The flood mitigation project also supports the long-term Chehalis Basin Strategy which aims to improve the health and resilience of local communities in the Chehalis River basin by reducing flood-related damage.