AUSTIN — Today Commissioner George P. Bush announced the results of a survey conducted by the Texas General Land Office (GLO) to gather input from local officials, councils of government and river authorities for its Disaster Recovery Planning Studies Survey for Mitigation Funding. The survey requested input on planning study topics local leaders would like to prioritize using federal mitigation funding to lessen the impact of future disasters. Through these studies, the GLO will be encouraging regional planning coordination in addition to specific local solutions to promote sound long-term recovery.

"Today the GLO is releasing results for the Disaster Recovery Planning Studies Survey for Mitigation Funding that sought input from our local leaders on planning study topics they would like to explore through Community Development Block Grant for Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funding," said Commissioner Bush. "The valuable input we received from our local leaders will help guide future studies to most effectively encourage regional planning coordination in maximizing use of future federal funding."

The GLO received 97 responses to the survey, which closed June 30, 2020. Participants in the survey indicated heavy rainfall during major flooding events overwhelmed drainage systems, causing damage to infrastructure such as roads and bridges. 

Based on the survey, the GLO compiled a list of planning study topics for areas that received a presidential disaster declaration resulting from the 2015 Floods, the 2016 Floods, or Hurricane Harvey. The survey was distributed to local officials, councils of government and river authorities to request input for planning topics including:

• Drainage improvements
• Resilient housing solutions
• Economic development
• Infrastructure improvements

Using the results of the survey, the GLO will now move forward with expansion of regional flood studies for Hurricane Harvey-impacted counties and expand those studies to all MIT-impacted regions. Specific study needs will also be accounted for and addressed, when possible.

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 $14 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 https://recovery.texas.gov/.