U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall heralded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's release of $58.2 million in additional flood-recovery funds to Colorado. The release, which Bennet and Udall worked to secure from supplemental disaster-recovery funding set aside following Hurricane Sandy, brings HUD's total investment in Colorado's long-term, disaster-recovery efforts from the devastating September 2013 flood to more than $320.3 million.

"We knew we'd have a long road to recovery, and we're making tremendous progress," Bennet said. "These resources from HUD are particularly critical because they will us help continue to recover in a variety of ways, from repairing homes and businesses, to restoring local infrastructure, supporting the long term economic recovery of these communities, and mitigating future damage. We'll continue to work with HUD and other federal agencies along with the state to ensure every community has what it needs to recover during this long process."

"The September 2013 flood and destructive government shutdown left Colorado hobbled. Since then I have been proud to work collaboratively with the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development to ensure Colorado communities have the resources they need to rebuild and protect Coloradans and businesses from future floods," Udall said. "This latest allocation is welcome news for Colorado and underscores the critical role HUD has played and will continue to play in helping us to rebuild smarter and stronger."

The department's latest allocation to Colorado through its Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program builds on HUD's allocation of $199.3 million in March 2014 and $62.8 million in December 2013. Bennet and Udall have worked in the meantime to give Colorado the greatest possible flexibility to utilize HUD's disaster aid and to support economic-recovery efforts.

Udall and Bennet have led efforts to secure federal aid for Colorado communities and families devastated by recent disasters, including legislation providing families common-sense tax relief. Udall and Bennet successfully secured $450 million in emergency federal transportation funds to repair Colorado's road, bridges and highways damaged in the flood. Udall and Bennet also led efforts to secure federal aid to restore watersheds damaged by the recent mega-fires.