Today Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced the Texas General Land Office (GLO) approved $1,536,581 in Hurricane Harvey disaster recovery grants to improve sewer, water and public facilities in Seadrift.
"Hurricane Harvey devastated communities across the Texas Coast," said Commissioner Bush. "These recovery funds are critical to improving local infrastructure that will protect lives, homes and businesses from future storms. We continue to work with our partners in communities across the region to leverage these resources efficiently and effectively to benefit Texans affected by Hurricane Harvey."
With these funds, Seadrift will be able to reconstruct and reinforce public facilities, including a damaged seawall, pier and park restroom as well as reinforce concrete ADA parking. Construction will take place at the Bayfront Park seawall, pier, restroom and shoreline and the Seadrift Community and Visitors Centers.
Additionally, Seadrift will improve sewer and water facilities by installing generator quick connect transfer switches and raising the control panel and rack above base flood elevation. The city will also install two ground water storage tanks. Finally, Seadrift will install a generator and hurricane shutters at the Seadrift Fire Station.
Texas GLO Hurricane Harvey Recovery Funds:
Commissioner George P. Bush and the Texas General Land Office was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to lead the historic Hurricane Harvey housing recovery efforts funded by $5.676 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The GLO allocated $413 million of the allocation for infrastructure projects to protect communities affected by the storm. The GLO allocated the funds to regional Council of Governments’ (COGs) based on a HUD approved needs assessment. The locally-led COGs then conducted methods of distribution (MODs) for determining infrastructure and buyout and acquisition amounts for cities and counties within each jurisdiction. COG boards are comprised of officials from the impacted communities elected in part to prioritize funds allocated for recovery programs. The MOD process requires public engagement and the GLO reviewed each MOD for compliance with federal rules and requirements before approving each plan
To review the approved MODs, please visit https://recovery.texas.gov/action-plans/hurricane-harvey/index.html.