Background
In 2015, Texas had two separate events that qualified for disaster recovery funding. Both events resulted from heavy rains and winds that caused severe damage across nearly half the state, or 134,000 square miles. The May events occurred May 4 to June 23, 2015. During the first part of May, many locations across the state received well above normal rainfall, creating saturated ground conditions. When the Memorial Day weekend arrived, the saturated soil forced rain runoff directly into rivers, streams, and flash-flood prone areas. Certain areas of Texas saw more than 20 inches of rainfall in a matter of days. In total, about 8 million acre-feet of water flowed into the state’s reservoirs.
Central and eastern Texas were also hit by dangerous flooding October 22 through October 31 when rainfall patterns converged with remnants of Hurricane Patricia.
In total, 116 counties were impacted by these two disaster events, with 19 counties designated as impacted by both disasters. “Most impacted” county designations by HUD include Harris, Hays, Hidalgo, and Travis.
Most-Impacted Counties Method of Distribution
2015 Grants Awarded
HUD released mandatory rules for the use of more than $4.3 billion in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation funds (CDBG-MIT) on August 30, 2019. These funds were appropriated by Congress on February 9, 2018, for mitigation projects in the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey as well as 2015 and 2016 Floods. To learn about the mitigation funds for 2015 please visit mitigation competitions page.
Contact Us
If you have a question about a Disaster Recovery program, find the right contact in our GLO Agency Directory.
GLO Agency Directory