United States Virgin Islands meets with White House and FEMA on $21.6 billion disaster recovery portfolio

Governor Albert Bryan Jr. (D) and senior United States Virgin Islands officials met on September 21, 2026 with representatives of the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to review the territory’s disaster recovery progress and identify opportunities to accelerate the delivery of major projects—the largest rebuilding effort in the history of the islands.

The US Virgin Islands delegation presented the territory’s recovery execution strategy, including the status of major projects, federal funding obligations, and the construction schedule anticipated over the coming years. Joining Bryan were Office of Disaster Recovery Director Adrienne L. Williams-Octalien, Acting Territorial Public Assistance Officer Tamisha Lambert, US Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority Chief Executive Officer Karl Knight, US Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority Executive Director Derek Gabriel, and other members of the territory’s recovery team.

The scale of the recovery effort is unprecedented. FEMA Public Assistance obligations to the United States Virgin Islands grew from approximately $2.3 billion in September 2020 to approximately $21.6 billion by September 2025. Through the Rebuild USVI initiative, the territory has released 11 procurement bundles along with additional individual project solicitations, and has executed 12 contracts covering 39 projects supported by approximately $13.7 billion in obligated funding. Major obligations were approved in stages beginning with the first school and healthcare projects in early 2022, which shaped when the territory’s largest projects could advance through procurement, design, environmental review, and construction.

The territory projects 19 major projects in active construction during 2026, increasing to 42 in 2027 and reaching 46 projects simultaneously under construction in 2028. Significant construction activity is expected to continue through 2030 and beyond. The recovery portfolio spans St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John and includes schools, hospitals and healthcare facilities, power generation, water and wastewater systems, roads, and public buildings.

Among the major investments highlighted were education projects estimated at approximately $2.4 billion on St. Thomas and $769 million on St. Croix; infrastructure bundles estimated at approximately $4.1 billion in northcentral St. Croix and $4.4 billion in eastern St. Thomas; approximately $1.2 billion in St. Thomas healthcare projects; and approximately $885 million in power generation projects on St. Croix and St. Thomas.

The recovery funding flows from damage caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, which struck the United States Virgin Islands in September 2017 and caused catastrophic damage across all three main islands. Nearly a decade later, the territory is still working to rebuild its schools, hospitals, utilities, and roads — a timeline shaped by the complexity of large-scale construction in a small island jurisdiction and the pace at which federal funds were obligated and released.

“The Virgin Islands has moved from getting the money to putting that money to work,” Bryan said. “For years, the focus was developing projects, negotiating costs, satisfying federal requirements and securing the obligations needed to rebuild. Today, major projects are contracted and advancing through design, environmental review and construction. Our focus now is execution.”

OMB and FEMA officials discussed the pace of expenditures and emphasized the importance of continued measurable progress. The United States Virgin Islands delegation outlined several factors affecting project delivery in a small island jurisdiction, including skilled labor and workforce housing shortages, contractor availability, construction capacity, debris disposal, inflation, market conditions, and environmental permitting. Federal officials expressed willingness to work with the territory to address those barriers, including exploring workforce housing opportunities and facilitating environmental review processes.

Approximately $12 billion in projects are currently moving through environmental compliance processes, making timely coordination with FEMA a significant factor in maintaining construction schedules. FEMA monitored approximately $1.4 billion, or 42%, of the territory’s $3.28 billion in drawdowns from 2017 through 2024.

The meeting also addressed local cost-share requirements. The territory outlined enhanced federal cost shares of 95% for standard projects and 98% for Section 428 projects, leaving local shares of 5% and 2% respectively. Bryan emphasized that the reduced local match has been critical to the territory’s ability to advance major recovery projects.

“We have three responsibilities: get the funds, spend the funds and spend the funds correctly,” Bryan said. “Speed matters, but so do accountability and compliance.”

The Government of the United States Virgin Islands expects to provide OMB with additional project-level information by the end of September and will continue providing regular updates on project execution and expenditures.

“This is the largest rebuilding effort in the history of the Virgin Islands,” Williams-Octalien said. “The work ahead is enormous, but the projects are moving. Our responsibility now is to maintain that momentum, resolve challenges as they arise and turn this historic investment into stronger schools, hospitals, utilities, roads and communities for generations of Virgin Islanders.”