Today Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved an amendment awarding $8 million in additional Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for a buyout program in Harris County for repeatedly flooded homes. The funds are being awarded to Harris County from HUD's first allocation $57.8 million in CDBG-DR funds after Hurricane Harvey. The funds came from appropriations designated for previous disaster events and held in reserve by HUD in anticipation of future disaster events. When Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Commissioner Bush made a request to HUD to release the allocation of funds.
"The GLO remains committed to expediting the rate at which federal housing and infrastructure funds reach local communities to help Texans affected by Hurricane Harvey," said Commissioner Bush. "Many homes in the Harris County region have flooded more than once during the past decade. These funds will allow Harris County to buyout homes in areas of repeated flooding so that we can remove homes from harm's way and mitigate future damage."
According to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data, Harris County had the highest number of properties - more than 3,000 - that flooded during Hurricane Harvey and have flooded at least one prior time. HUD designated Harris County as the sole most impacted county for this allocation to receive 80% of the total allocation. The GLO initially awarded $35.4 million to fund a housing buyout program, which will to prevent as many homes as possible from being rebuilt in harm's way.
These funds will be administered by Harris County in partnership with the Harris County Flood Control District and will be used to acquire up to 200 single family homes and assist families in moving out of high flood risk areas. The areas acquired through the housing buyouts will be used for floodplain preservation, to include drainage improvements. With the approval of this final $8 million, the GLO has fully awarded the $57.8 million State Action Plan to help Texas communities recover from the devastation from Hurricane Harvey.
Harris County Housing Buy Out Program contact information:
Website:
www.harrisrecovery.org
Email:
rebuildharris@csd.hctx.net
Phone Number: 832-927-4961
About GLO Community Development and Revitalization (CDR)
In addition to short-term housing in partnership with Federal Emergency Management Agency, the CDR division of the Texas General Land Office administers the Housing and Urban Development CDBG-DR funds on behalf of the state of Texas. More than $9 billion has been allocated for recovery following Hurricanes Rita, Dolly, and Ike, the 2011 wildfires, the 2015 and 2016 floods and Hurricane Harvey. These grants can be used for a wide variety of activities including housing redevelopment, infrastructure repair and long-term planning. For more information, please visit
TexasRebuilds.org.
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