AUSTIN — Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush is pleased to announce the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocated the state of Texas more than $239 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to assist in long-term recovery efforts following severe flooding in 2018 and 2019 in South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Tropical Storm Imelda in Southeast Texas.

"Flooding continues to be the most destructive form of natural disaster threatening our state," Commissioner Bush said. "Many communities endured an inundation of rains this year are still recovering from 2018 flooding and Hurricane Harvey. We must continue to work with our federal, state and local partners to prioritize long-term recovery efforts that increase the resiliency of homes, harden infrastructure, and mitigate effects of future disasters."

2018 South Texas Floods (June 19 - July 13, 2018):

• New funding: $26.513 million
• Eligible Counties: Cameron, Hidalgo and Jim Wells Counties

2019 Disasters:

• New funding: $212.741 million
• Eligible disasters and counties: 

• • 2019 Lower Rio Floods (June 24 - June 25, 2019): 

• • • Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy Counties

• • Tropical Storm Imelda (September 17 - September 23, 2019): 

• • • Chambers, Harris, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery, Orange and San Jacinto Counties

HUD issued an initial allocation of $46,400,000 CDBG-DR funding for Cameron, Hidalgo and Jim Wells Counties in response to significant flooding in 2018. On December 3, 2019, HUD announces additional allocation of $26,513,000 bringing the total allocation to $72,913,000.

In August, Commissioner Bush sent a letter to Dr. Ben Carson, Secretary of HUD, requesting Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding for the June 2018 flooding in South Texas. 

HUD must now post rules in the Federal Register outlining eligible uses and activities for the funding, program requirements, distribution requirements, and waivers and exceptions. Once this happens, the GLO will draft a state action plan in accordance with HUD's rules. 

About GLO Community Development and Revitalization (CDR)

In addition to short-term housing in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the CDR division of the Texas General Land Office was appointed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to administer both Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funds on behalf of the state of Texas. More than $14 billion have been allocated for recovery and mitigation 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 recovery.texas.gov.